The Violin That Started it All
by Loving Healer
Summary: Nico di Angelo has the worst life he can ever imagine; at school and at home. But, when he's playing his violin under a tree one day in a nearby park, he comes face to face with a certain someone: his crush, Percy Jackson. His whole life turns completely around for him, but how?
1. Prologue

_**Author's Note: Well, this is actually my first High School AU fanfic. It's Percico/Pernico, so if you were looking for something else, I am truly sorry but you should press the back button now. If you were looking for Nicercy, none of that is here. I do like Nicercy though…I just write Percico/Pernico better. **_

_**Anyway, you guys may know me from my first Percico/Pernico fanfic The Risk in the Choice, or you might be new viewers! So yay! I guess. And for those who DO know me, I'm glad to have you back as readers again! And sorry for such a short fanfic, I never planned it to be long. But, lucky you guys, this fanfic WILL be long, or at least, I'm planning it to be. **_

_**There IS SMUT in this fanfic, so that is why this fanfic is Rated M. Don't like that, then leave. Read The Risk in the Choice if you don't like smut. It's Rated M, but there's no smut it in. Just implied sex. **_

_**So, the main character in this fanfic is Nico, so it'll only revolve around him. The chapters will most likely be around 3,000 words or more, but I'll try to see if I can get it up to 5,000. Maybe if I tried hard enough. I don't know, you guys are really anxious for the next chapter to be uploaded. But, this is the prologue, so, it's pretty short. Sorry about that.**_

_**Well, that's all for now. Happy reading! **_

_**Note: Sorry for any kind of mistakes! I do not have an editor, so this fanfic isn't perfect in terms of grammar, punctuation, etc. **_

_**Warning: Language, child abuse, [[mentioned]] death, bullying (I'll add more along the way) **_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. I am definitely not Rick Riordan. Also, I got the "Hades abuses Nico" idea from some fanfic…though which fanfic I got it from I don't remember. Just remember that it wasn't my idea. Ciao!**_

* * *

**The Violin that Started it All**

**Author: Loving Healer**

**Prologue**

* * *

My name? Right, it's Nico—Nico di Angelo, to be more specific. I live in Manhattan—one of the five boroughs of New York City. But, I was born in Maine. I'm fifteen years old, and I can't say I'm the greatest guy. Because, to be honest, I really am not. I hate my life, I really do. I'm surprised my father still sends me to school, since he hates me so much now. It all happened because my sister and my mother died from this terrible car accident—or, truck accident—because a truck driver got drunk. I mean, seriously? Can you be any more stupid?

Anyway, I only live with my father now. After my mother, Maria, and my sister, Bianca, died, we moved to Manhattan. The reason? I don't know. But, ever since then, my father has treated me horribly. Every subsequent day, he's called me a failure, and abuses me whenever I get home from school. What did you expect me to do, Father? Stop the truck driver from becoming drunk? It wasn't my fault; you can't blame me for something that I wasn't a part of—or even _there_ for.

Well, since I hate my life so much, why don't I ever suicide? I don't have friends, I get beaten up at school because I'm gay, my whole family is dead except for my father who hates my guts, and the only talents I have is being smart, and playing the violin. Otherwise, I suck at just about everything. I don't look "hot", and I'm horrible at sports, especially since bullies at school and my father beat me up so much.

So, why don't I ever think of committing suicide, cutting, taking drugs, smoking, et cetera? Well, it's simple: I think it's stupid. Doing those things would mean that I gave up on life, which I didn't. It would make me a coward if I did those things because of my life. I mean, sure doing those things (not counting suicide) will give you comfort, but it'll just make my health worse than it already is. Plus, my life may have the smallest, one percent chance of getting better. I mean, at least it's not zero percent.

Also: I'm fifteen, and still a virgin. Though, I don't really care about it. I never thought it was "mandatory" to lose your virginity by the time your fourteen. I'm not planning on getting married to anyone or anything. I'm a nobody at school. No one really noticed me. That's why so many people bump into me, but the time they want to apologize to me, I'm already walking away from them. I don't need any sympathy from some strangers anyway. Sure, it shows kindness and manners, but I go through things way worse than them. I'll take sympathy from someone who has a worse life than me; if it's possible to find someone like that.

But, all of this was true. Why is it past tense, you ask? Well, that's because, it's different now. My father is now dead. I live with my boyfriend, Percy Jackson, who happened to take my virginity. I live with Percy's mother and father, Sally and Paul Blofis, and Percy's younger brother, Tyson Jackson. I get a lot of attention at school, and all the people that used to bully me pretty much worship the ground I walk. I find it hilarious how this all happened. Apparently, that one percent of my life getting better happened, and now look where I got myself.

So, if you're reading this and you think your life is horrible, read mine, and see whether you look at your life at a different angle now. A better angle, to be more precise.

If you think your life is horrible because of you don't "fit in", then I'm sorry to say, but that's just stupid. You don't need to dress like the others, or have Iphones like everyone else. It doesn't matter. As long as you have friends and a family that support you, then you're fine. If you get bullied, tell your parents right away.

Why didn't I tell my parents? Because I only have one—a father that hates my life and doesn't care what happens to me. I'm surprised he hasn't disowned me yet. Well, he's dead now, so I guess it doesn't matter anymore.

So, let me tell you my story. A story where my life took a turn. A huge turn. If I were to make an analogy about my life and driving, I'd say my life took a U-turn. A very interesting U-turn. The road was full of ups and downs, but I'd say the result was worth it. It was great, so, don't think you're life is over. Because, it never will be, until you become old. _That's_ when it's over.

But if you're not, don't give up. Just let your life go by, and soon, you'll find someone to spend the rest of your life with like me. You'll find the right friends for you. The problems will all melt away, and the only thing left is happiness. It'll happen, trust me. I didn't think it would happen to me. I have a _lot_ of bad luck, and trust me when I say I do, because it's true. So, keep your head held high and go through every day, no matter how painful. Because, trust me, one day you'll wake up, and one of the many problems you have are gone. They'll disappear with each subsequent day, one by one. If it happened to me, it can happen to you.

Now, let me tell you where my story began. Don't worry, it'll get better, for you and me.


	2. Chapter 1

_**Author's Note: I can't think of anything to say. But, well, I guess I should tell you guys that I try to get my updates in every other day or so. But, since today's Friday and the Prologue was really short, I'm making the first chapter now! **_

_**But uhh, sorry for the delay. I was fooling around and being stupid complete idiots. We were also talking about Animal Crossing: New Leaf (a video game). **_

_**Also, the locker combination mentioned in this fanfic that Nico has is the locker combination I have! And the science classroom he has is the same as mine. Miles Square Park is also an actual park in Southern California. I go there ALL the time to go bike riding with my family! And, the classes Nico has are the classes I'm going to have next year. But, I don't take Orchestra. I just had to add that class in there because he plays the violin in this fanfic, you know? Haha, just thought I should say the fun fact and all.**_

_**I also started reading The Kane Chronicles since I finished all the Percy Jackson books and I didn't know what else to read. I'm on Page 104 right now, and they have the weird chapter names again! Gods, I missed those stupid and weird chapter names. And, Carter is so funny (even though Sadie says he doesn't say much humor). I still remember the chapter names "Nico Feeds Happy Meals to the Dead", "I Go Snowboarding With a Pig", "I Play Dodgeball With Monsters", and "I Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher" from the Percy Jackson series. Don't know why, I just do. They were so amusing to me! **_

_**Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know the picture for the cover for this fanfic has a brown violin, and I described Nico's as black, but I just realized his violin should be black, so now it's black. But, the cover has a brown violin. Sorry about that. If it bothers you guys A LOT, then I may go back and change it. **_

_**Note: Sorry for any kind of mistakes! I do not have an editor, so this fanfic isn't perfect in terms of grammar, punctuation, etc. **_

_**Warning: Language, child abuse, [[mentioned]] death, bullying (I'll add more along the way) **_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. I am definitely not Rick Riordan. Also, I got the "Hades abuses Nico" idea from some fanfic…though which fanfic I got it from I don't remember. Just remember that it wasn't my idea. Also, in this chapter, Miles Square Park is a real park. It wasn't my own name idea. Ciao!**_

* * *

**The Violin That Started it All**

**Author: Loving Healer**

**Part One: Nico di Angelo**

**Chapter One**

* * *

I woke up with this searing pain throughout my chest, and I felt like I was kicked in the crotch area or whatnot. My head was throbbing like I had a headache, even though I was just recently sleeping the night away. Oh right, my father beat me up again. So, I wasn't imagining all this pain surging throughout my body. Great. Just what I needed. I'm surprised I'm not immune to pain yet. _Yet_.

My slowly got up, cursing under my breath because of it. My father was most likely sleeping; he doesn't work, I have to. I work at the library, since I love reading so much (crazy, right? Or is it just me?). I get paid a decent amount from there, since my boss takes pity on me. Which is something I do not need either.

At least my legs don't hurt, so I could walk to school. But, I should probably sneak out so I don't wake up my father. I've never tried waking him up in the morning, but I knew it wouldn't be very pretty.

So, as quietly and as best as I could without screaming my lungs off from all the pain, I went to the bathroom and attempted to shut the door so quietly, I was afraid I would be there for an hour. After I (finally) shut the door, I did what normal people did—minus taking pain relieving pills, just so I could subside the pain during school. I didn't (never) have any time to make breakfast, so I slipped through the half-open door and set my destination to my school: Thunderway High School.

I was a freshman at Thunderway High. High school never took such a toll on me, since I was pretty smart. I was a fast learner, and I always got good grades. I was pretty fortunate this happened to me, since I have to deal so much with other things [cough, Father, cough, bullies, cough]. Anyway, like I said before, I was a nobody. The only people that actually noticed me were the teachers, principals, et cetera. None of the students ever paid any attention to me.

I had a crush on a guy named Percy Jackson though. He was part of the football team, but the team captain was another guy named Jason Grace. Jason Grace was pretty nice, though, I've never talked to him. I didn't think he wanted to talk to a guy like me anyway. He had blonde hair that was styled in the front with gel so it looked like a small triangle (even if I was smart, I hated school probably as much as you do). He really liked to wear purple colored T-shirts, but I wasn't sure if it was his favorite color or something. He had electric blue eyes and a small scar on his lip. He had an older sister named Thalia Grace, but she was a senior. Jason Grace was a junior.

Percy Jackson, my crush. He was also a junior. He had black, windswept hair like he standing on a windy beach for hours trying to keep his hair that way. He had stunning emerald green eyes, and perfectly tanned skin. He always had a smile plastered on his face; I had never seen him mad, sad, depressed, et cetera. He always wore either an orange T-shirt or blue, but I can tell his favorite color was blue, since he wore that more often. What? I wasn't a stalker for knowing what colors he wore more. Of course not. He had a girlfriend named Annabeth Chase, and let me just tell you, I was pretty jealous.

Annabeth Chase is what you may consider as an Honors student. She always had the top grades in her classes, and I only know that because I hear it around school all the time, so she was pretty smart. Probably even smarter than me. She had curly blonde hair that was always tied back into a tight ponytail. She usually wore shorts and orange T-shirts that usually matched with Percy's. She was very social, so she had many friends.

Jason, Percy, and Annabeth were considered the "popular kids", along with a few others. If I would name the others, they would be Hazel Levesque, Frank Zhang, Piper McLean, Leo Valdez, Reyna Avila-Ramirez Arrelano (don't ask how I remember her whole last name), Malcolm Chase, Kayla Solace, Will Solace, Katie Gardner, Miranda Gardiner, Charles Beckendorf, Butch Iris, Silena Beauregard, Jake Mason, and Michael Yew.

There was a separate group of popular kids, but these were a lot meaner, and there were less of them: Luke Castellan, Octavian Castellan, Drew Tanaka, Clarisse la Rue, Ethan Nakamura, Chris Rodriguez, Alabaster Torrington, Pollux Nysus, Castor Nysus, Otrera Amazon, Leroy Dan, and Victoria la Rue. These were the majority of the guys that beat me up. Some of the people in this group were a lot nicer like they were from Jason's group—like Alabastor, Ethan, and Chris—but most of their friends are in this group.

Most of the people in the nicer group became popular because of their connections. Leo has always been best friends since Jason since elementary school. Kayla and Will were siblings, and so were Malcolm and Annabeth. Will and Michael were also best friends since elementary school, and most of them were dating each other. Annabeth and Percy were (unfortunately) dating; Hazel, Frank and Leo were dating (threesomes); Charles, who prefers to be called by his surname, and Silena were dating; Will and Jake were dating; and Piper and Jason were dating.

Wow, that was a lot of explaining.

Anyway, I walked down the hallway towards my locker, trying very carefully to not bump into anyone, or it would just trigger all the pain in my chest, head, and crotch again. God, why wasn't I immune to pain yet? I was still waiting for that day to come.

I hastily opened my locker, using the locker combination 30-10-4, and grabbed the necessary items I needed for my first class: Biology. I hated that class. Well, actually, I hated _every_ class. But, that was pretty irrelevant at the moment.

I rushed over to the biology class: room twenty-five. It seemed so far from where my locker was, which I absolutely hated. It happened _every single fucking morning_. How much bad luck was going to happen to me?

Well, I had Biology, Geometry, Spanish Two, English, Orchestra, and Physical Education (P.E.). Not counting Snack, Lunch, or Tutorial. I had a _very_ long day ahead of me.

I was just glad the people that bullied me were older, so they were in a different grade, which meant they didn't have the same classes I had. So, I could go through my classes without having to worry about coming into contact with them. The only problem at school was that I had the chance of seeing them in the hallway on the way to my other classes. Usually when it happened, they would beat me up, and it resulted in a terrible and painful walk to my class, and me being late to my class. The teachers always eyed me suspiciously, like I was staying after the bell to sell drugs or something. I mean, seriously? What kind of character did people think I was?

I sighed and shouldered my bag. I shut my locker and continued down the road towards room twenty-five, my Biology class.

* * *

After school, finally, I decided to go to the park. In my free time, when I didn't have to work, I would play my violin at the park. I would _never_ play at home; my father always yelled at me about how loud I was. Were you listening to anything in particular, Father? No, I didn't think so, so why did it matter that you heard my violin? God! If I only I could tell all of these retorts to him. But no, I would just get beaten up all over again! My hatred for Father has grown ever since my mother and Bianca died. If only they were still here with me, maybe I wouldn't have to suffer like this so much.

The park was nearby my house. My father never cared when I came home and when I left; as long as I didn't wake him up from his slumber, I was fine. If I was ever in my father's presence, he would beat me up. You know, I sometimes wonder why I stay at my house when my father is still there. Probably because I didn't have anywhere else to stay. I mean, I didn't have any friends to stay with. So, I was just stuck with my father.

I arrived at the park: Miles Square Park. It was a pretty large park, with lots of grass and many trees. The ground was never flat. There were many various hills, and a narrow river ran throughout the park. It all ended at a very large lake that inhabited both ducks and swans. A playground sat in the middle of the park, and there were many benches set around, and many wooden tables, benches, and barbeques for others if they wanted to host a party here. A light tan sidewalk wound all throughout the park, where people jogged, bicycled, scootered, skateboarded, hiked, et cetera. It was such a beautiful park. But, there was this one place I always hung out at.

It was a little tree all the way in the corner of the park. I was never used to people praising me, so I never liked to play my violin in front of others. It was kind of awkward for me, but that was how I was. I also loved the little tree; it reminded me of…me. It was so frail and weak like it could snap at any moment, yet it still continued to grow. It was a strong tree, at heart…if trees…had hearts.

I carefully sat down, muttering under my breath once more because the pain relieving medicine wore off and the pain came back. I set my black violin case down next to me, and unzipped it all the way, revealing my beautifully polished black violin. I would describe it, but I'm not sure you guys would know the parts of the violin, so I won't. It'd sound as if I were talking some other language other than English.

I took out the bow, and ran the horsestring of the bow on the strings of my violin, creating a sound that I've been in love with for so long. I started to play the violin after my mother died. She was in love with the piano and the violin, but I favored the violin more. Bianca favored the piano more. So, my mother gave us little lessons here and there, but it was for fun. We were never serious about playing. But, when my mother and Bianca died, I started to play the violin. It was just a memory about my mother, so I played the violin.

Since it reminded me of my mother and Bianca so much, and could only play sad and depressing songs. I played them at the top of my head. I would think of one note on the violin, and then another one would play in my head, and so on, until it created a beautiful piece of music. That's how I played the violin in my free time. I loved it, and it was probably the only thing that could've ever made me smile.

I soon played. It was a deep, rich melody. Not as deep and low as the cello, but to me it was just right. The notes flowed together like Beethoven conducted it, though not as good and professional as him. I moved my arm in a rhythmic patter, back and forth, back and forth. I hoped no one was watching me; I'd feel pretty self-conscience.

I didn't even realize I closed my eyes. It happened all the time, because the memories that took place between Bianca, my mother, and me played throughout my head, and closing my eyes made it clearer, more _real_.

The last time I ever saw them was when I was ten, back in Maine. It was a cloudy day, but no really _bad_ weather. My father was keeping me at home, while my mother and Bianca went out to go shopping together. I was watching television when my father received a phone call. He threw me into the car afterwards (literally), and he drove us straight to the hospital. It was that day when my mother passed away, and the day after Bianca passed away. Mother had been trying to protect Bianca, so she received the most damaged to her body. But, if you haven't seen a truck, trucks are pretty big. And, this one was a delivery truck for some company. So, Bianca passed as well, but a little later than my mother. My father was so furious and enraged that day, I was just depressed and sorrowful. I cried my eyes out in the hospital, in the car, and at home. Tears ran tracks down my face as I attended their funeral. My eyes twinkled with tears as we packed and moved to New York. I still remember the day my mother and Bianca died. I would play them their own song that I wrote and memorized myself, in honor for them. January twenty-third was my mother's death, and January twenty-fourth was Bianca's death. Sometimes, I hated to think about their deaths so much, because it hurt my heart so much, and I would cry my eyes out for hours. Mostly whenever it happened at home, I would try to be as silent as I can, so my father wouldn't burst into the room and tell me to shut up. But, fate had their deaths happen, and I couldn't do anything about the past anymore. It was just how life was.

I raised the bow off the thin strings of my violin gently and softly, so I didn't do any damage to the strings, and someone's voice startled me so much, I almost jumped.

"That was such beautiful music you just played, by the way."

I abruptly stood up and whipped my body around at someone I would never expect to approach me: Percy Jackson, the person that I was crushing on. He had a plain, navy blue V-neck on, and dark gray jeans. He wore navy blue _Vans_ to match his navy blue shirt, and his stunning emerald green eyes were staring right at me. His black windswept hair was as perfect as ever, and he was smiling so kindly at me, I could've sworn it was directed at someone behind me. But, I knew no one was behind me without even checking, because I was all the way in the corner of the park, where no one ever went. He even praised me, which was something I rarely ever received. I wasn't used to praise, like I said before, which was why I was all the way in the back of the park, so no one could hear me play. So, why was Percy Jackson here?

Well, this could not turn out any good.


	3. Chapter 2

_**Author's Note: Oh my god! Thank you so much, Sirius1696! I went back and added Jake Mason, jeez no wonder I felt like I was missing someone. He's mentioned in the first chapter now, so don't worry guys! Thanks again! **_

_**So, sorry the last chapter had a LOT of mistakes. I was re-reading it on my phone and there were just so many! I might go back and fix it, but my prime goal is to get this fanfic moving forward. You guys can handle the mistakes here and there, right? I was kind of rushing the last chapter…I don't usually have that many mistakes. I kind of misspelled some of the characters names, like Reyna's last name is "Avila-Ramirez Arellano" and I put two r's instead of two l's. **_

_**Sorry for how horribly written the bullying is in this chapter. I have never actually seen a physical fight happen in my life (TV does not count) so it's probably written horribly.**_

_**Also: This is a PERCICO/PERNICO fanfic. It is NOT Nicercy. I'm going to repeat this whenever I can so I can get it drilled into your guys' heads. I really don't want any complaints about how Percy should be on the "receiving end". I only write Percico/Pernico, sorry about that.**_

_**I was on Instagram and I follow a bunch of Percy Jackson blogs and I feel like I'm the only one who ships Percico/Pernico/Nicercy (even though I don't write Nicercy). I feel so alone!**_

_**And if you guys can remember this, during this chapter, Nico hears masculine and feminine voices. You'll see when you get there. But, if you were wondering which voices belonged to whom, here's where they came from (the counting starts from, "Here…"): **_

_**First, Tenth, and Thirteenth Voice: Jason Grace (stated) **_

_**Second Voice: Piper McLean**_

_**Third Voice: Annabeth Chase **_

_**Fourth Voice: Will Solace**_

_**Fifth Voice: Charles Beckendorf **_

_**Sixth, Twelfth, and Fourteenth Voice: Reyna Avila-Ramirez Arellano **_

_**Seventh and Ninth Voice: Silena Beauregard **_

_**Eighth Voice: Thalia Grace **_

_**Eleventh Voice: Katie Gardner**_

_**Okay this list is kind of confusing but yeah.**_

_**But anyway, thanks for reviewing, following, and favoriting, and I hope you enjoy reading this chapter! After I finish this chapter I have to watch the new first episode of the Anime Fairy Tail (2014)! –screams— **_

_**And, sorry for such a short chapter! Today's the weekend, so I might be able to get another chapter uploaded by the end of the day, as an apology. If not, then I am truly sorry.**_

_**Note: Sorry for any kind of mistakes! I do not have an editor, so this fanfic isn't perfect in terms of grammar, punctuation, etc. **_

_**Warning: Language, child abuse, [[mentioned]] death, bullying (I'll add more along the way) **_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. I am definitely not Rick Riordan. Also, I got the "Hades abuses Nico" idea from some fanfic…though which fanfic I got it from I don't remember. Just remember that it wasn't my idea. Also, in this chapter, Miles Square Park is a real park. It wasn't my own idea (description, name, etc. was not my ideas). And in this chapter, the "Paul getting Percy into classical music" wasn't my idea, but I don't remember which fanfic I got it from. Ciao!**_

* * *

**The Violin That Started it All**

**By: Loving Healer**

**Part One: Nico di Angelo**

**Chapter Two**

* * *

"Uh, what…are you doing here?" I decided to ask in the most normal way I possibly could.

"Well," Percy drawled, a small, friendly smile still on his face, "I was hanging out here at this park with some of my other friends after school, and we happened to hear your music. My friends aren't really a big fan of classical music, but my step-dad got me into it, since he listens to it around the house all the time and whatnot. So, I decided to follow the music and see who was playing it. You play the violin really well. My step-father would love meeting you, you know?" Percy's smile became wider. "I'm—"

"Percy Jackson," I finished, though it kind of just came out rather than me finishing it.

Percy stared at me surprised. Of course he would do that, he didn't even know I went to his school, so how could I ever know his name? I probably sounded like a stalker to him.

"How did you know my name?" Percy ventured, head slightly tilted to the side with one eyebrow raised.

I opened my mouth, but closed it. Should I tell Percy I went to his school? I mentally shook my head. Percy would just keep bothering me at school, trying to become friends with me. I mean, who would want to become friends with me? It was such a ridiculous idea, becoming friends with me. Plus, he would most likely find out about my father and those bullies beating me up all the time. Sure, I wanted help, but I don't want sympathy. That was a huge no no for me.

So, I decided not to tell him. "Not important." I stared off to the side where my black violin case was. I just wanted to be alone today, even if it _was_ Percy Jackson that I happened to find.

Percy looked like he wanted to say something else, but he decided to say something different. "Alright, I guess. What's your name?"

I sighed. "Nico. Nico di Angelo."

"Nico?" Percy furrowed his brows. "I feel like I've heard that from somewhere. It sounds familiar to me. Nico di Angelo….where have I heard that before?"

I raised an eyebrow. "I don't think you've ever heard of me. No one knows my name, except for my father and my teachers."

Percy still continued his puzzled expression. "Well, why not? What about your friends and the rest of your family?"

I tensed. We were delving deeper into a topic I hated talking about, especially with someone who barely knew me. "Not important."

Percy smirked. "You say that a lot to get out of conversations."

"Do I?" I replied. "I don't have human interaction with people a lot, so I don't really know if I do that."

Percy's puzzled expression returned. "Really? You're one confusing guy, Nico. How come you never talk to people?"

I shook my head. "Not important."

Percy rolled his eyes. "Again with the 'not important' stuff. Oh well, guess I can't do anything about it. But, what was that song you were playing called?"

My lips tilted downward. "It doesn't have a name."

Percy's head tilted sideways more. "Well, why not? Don't all songs have a title? I wanted to show my step-dad this music and tell him I found someone playing it on their violin at the park."

I sighed. "I don't think you should do that. It's not very important. And, I kind of just made the song up in my head, so it doesn't have a real title."

Percy suddenly looked shocked. "Wait…you just made it up while you played?!"

"Yeah." I arched an eyebrow. "What's so wrong about that?"

Percy shook his head, his surprised expression faltering. "Nothing, nothing. It's just, the song seemed like such a well-written song, but then I realized it's _not_ written, and that you just made it all up in your head. That seems like it takes a lot of talent," Percy explained.

"Not really," I drawled. "I play the violin like that almost every day."

"Really?" Percy looked impressed, a smile forming on his lips again. "Do you play here most of the time? I would love to bring my step-dad and introduce you to him."

I shook my head. "I don't like playing in front of people. I mean, sure I play in front of people at school, but that's different."

"Oh." Percy's expression turned into a disappointed one. "Do you want to become friends at least? I would love to be friends with someone like you. You seem like such a nice, yet mysterious guy. I would love to know you more."

I frowned and sighed heavily. "I don't think you would want to become friends with someone like me."

Percy blinked at me. "Well, why not?"

I waved the question away, responding with, "Not important."

Percy sighed, but a smile was still on his face. "Of course you replied with the 'not important'. It's like, whenever I really want to know something about you, you say 'not important'. And hey, your last name's Italian. Does that mean you can speak in Italian and stuff?"

I shrugged. "Yeah, but I was born in Maine."

"Oh, that's cool," Percy commented as I began packing my violin. "Are you sure you don't want to become friends with me? You mentioned earlier that you didn't have any friends. Well, you replied with 'not important', but it's just a guess. Are you sure about it though?"

I shoulder my violin bag. "I'm positive. Bye, Percy."

Percy sighed, a disappointed look covering his face once more. "See you later, Nico."

As I walked away, I thought about that. I don't think there would ever be a "later" in talking to Percy Jackson again. Sure, I would see him around school, but I don't think he would ever pay any attention to me. I didn't think I would "catch his eye" at school.

Boy, was I wrong.

* * *

"Hey, queer," I heard someone snarl at me.

"Are you talking to yourself?" I sassily answered.

The front collar of my shirt was pulled into someone's grasp, and the next thing I knew, I my back was being shoved into a locker. My chest didn't completely heal, which was one of the downsides to this problem, and it was most likely going to get worse after this beating.

I was on my way to my Biology class, until I found Luke Castellan and a few of his other friends. Not all of them were there, but the meanest ones were there. It was like they were waiting for me or something. At least they didn't know what my Biology class room number was, or I would be beaten up by them every day.

I knew I was gay, and the bullies knew it too. I'm not sure why they chose to beat me up because I was gay. A lot of other people at school were gay. But, maybe it was because I didn't mind liking other guys and finding them attractive. The guys that were gay at my school found it weird and abnormal. I didn't really care; it was the least of my problems in life anyway. I had more to deal with than just being gay.

I soon felt hot, searing pain throughout my right cheek. My head was harshly moved by my chin, so I saw who was bullying me today: Luke Castellan. His other friends were standing in the background, snickering at me.

I'm not going to lie, but Luke Castellan was good-looking. Though, I wasn't attracted to him. He had short, sandy blonde hair that was styled to his left side, and blue eyes. He had an athletic and muscular build to him, and he had a look that screamed "troublemaker", which he was. He also has this thick, pale scar that ran down the bottom of his eye to his chin. How he got it is a mystery to me.

He shoved my back into the locker once again. "Did you just talk back to me, you little queer?"

I usually bad-talked them back, so this was normal for me. "Do you have ears? Because, last time I checked, I'm pretty sure you did."

Luke growled and dropped me on the ground. He kicked the flat of his foot in my chest, and it was the most horrible feeling I could've ever felt. All the pain came surging back to me, heat spreading throughout my body. I coughed up blood onto his leg, and he looked from his leg to me in disgust.

"You little fucking queer," Luke spat. "I'm going to make you pay for that."

"What's wrong?" I growled at him, wiping off some leftover blood from the corner of my mouth using the back of my hand. "Don't like the color red?"

Luke glared daggers at me before he picked me up from the front collar of my shirt like a doll and threw me against the locker, pinning me there. He punched me in the face once more in the same spot with a firmly grasped fist. He threw me on the ground and stomped on my stomach, and he kicked me in the shin, making me cry out loud.

Luke bent over and grabbed me by the collar of my shirt so that we were face to face. Our noses were mere centimeters apart.

Luke's voice was a dangerous whisper, with an evil smirk across his face. "You better beg for some help, queer. Because you're going to need it."

He shoved me into the locker once more. He raised his fist and I flinched before it hit me, but it never came.

"Hey, Castellan!"

I didn't realize my eyes were shut tight, but when I slowly opened them, I saw Luke's gaze directed at someone to my left. My sight was still hazy and blurry, but when I managed to turn my head, I saw Jason Grace and _his_ group of friends. Luke's friends scowling at them, probably angry that their "entertainment" was stopped.

Luke glared at them. "What's wrong, Grace? You want to look after this fucking two year-old?"

"Very funny, Castellan." Jason rolled his eyes. "Everyone's laughing. Now, hand him over."

Luke glared at them once more before throwing me across the hall to the foot of the captain of the football team.

"This isn't over, Grace," Luke spat before he and his friends made their way towards the opposite direction of where I was.

"Hey, are you okay?" I heard Jason Grace say to me.

I struggled to get up—one hand clutching my chest and another pushing against the ground so I would get up. It was more like a half push-up. I didn't need their help (I obviously did need it), but I didn't want their sympathy either. But, I couldn't tell that to them. My voice felt like failing on me at that moment. So, I couldn't really do anything about it.

"Here let me help," Jason Grace offered, already in the process of helping me up.

"Should we take him to the nurse?" I heard a feminine voice say. "He looks like he'll need to go there."

"Well, obviously!" I heard another feminine voice respond. "Are you blind? He _really_ needs some medical attention. Stupid Castellan. Why does he have to beat people up so much?"

"Because he's an idiot," A masculine voice annoyingly replied.

"He looks like he's going to pass out," Another masculine voice commented.

"You guys aren't making his situation any better," A feminine voice huffed. I could tell this girl was either crossing her arms and sighing, or rolling her eyes. Either that or this person with the feminine voice was a guy.

"Just help him!" Another feminine voice frantically said, helping Jason carry me. I couldn't really see who everyone talking around me was, but I knew they were Jason Grace's friends.

I didn't like the idea of going the school nurse, because when you went there, the school nurse always informed your guardian. And, if my father knew that this happened, he would just beat me up all over again, saying that I "wasted his time" and that I shouldn't "piss people off so that they would beat me up". He would just make my condition worse than it already is. And, I didn't need that.

"You guys need to hurry or he might die," A feminine voice said, though I could tell from her tone of voice she was just being sarcastic.

Apparently the girl that was helping me up didn't detect her sarcasm. "He could die?! Oh my god! Jason, we've got to run to the nurse now!"

Jason—on my right—sighed. "He's not going to die. She was just kidding." The girl on my left breathed a sigh of relief.

"We still need to hurry," A feminine voice mentioned.

"Well, yeah," the girl who was either crossing her arms or rolling her eyes earlier agreed. "Should we be getting the others?"

"If you want," Jason replied. "We're going on ahead and getting him to the nurse."

"Alright." was the last thing I heard from that girl before I passed out.


	4. Chapter 3

_**Author's Note: Sorry the last chapter was so short! As an apology, I uploaded a new chapter on the same day. How does that sound? But well, it's kind of late, since I was watching movies at the same time. Sorry, about that! But, here's the next chapter!**_

_**Anyway, there's more beating up in this chapter, so sorry if it's written so horribly. I still need to play Animal Crossing: New Leaf and watch Fairy Tail (2014) after this **_

_**Well, happy reading! **_

_**Note: Sorry for any kind of mistakes! I do not have an editor, so this fanfic isn't perfect in terms of grammar, punctuation, etc. **_

_**Warning: Language, child abuse, [[mentioned]] death, bullying (I'll add more along the way) **_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. I am definitely not Rick Riordan. Also, I got the "Hades abuses Nico" idea from some fanfic…though which fanfic I got it from I don't remember. Just remember that it wasn't my idea. The "Paul getting Percy into classical music" also wasn't my idea, but I don't remember which fanfic I got it from. Ciao!**_

* * *

**The Violin That Started it All**

**By: Loving Healer**

**Part One: Nico di Angelo**

**Chapter Three**

* * *

I woke up in a really soft bed. Nothing compared to my real bed at home. My real bed was really rough and uncomfortable. I hated it, but it was better than sleeping on the floor. And trust me, I've tried it before. I woke up really sore on that day, so from that day forward, I slept on my really uncomfortable bed. I hated it, but I had no other choice, right?

I got up and I was aching all over body. I groaned and lied back down on the bed. Great, just what I needed. How long would I be in here anyway? My father was most likely picking me up, which was another bonus to my "Bad Luck Things That Were Happening" list. So far, I have many on that list, and zero on the "Good Luck Things That Were Happening" list. You know, I sometimes wonder why I even have a good luck list if nothing good was ever going to happen.

Well, at that time, that was what I thought.

The door was opened and but someone different stepped inside. He looked as if he were seventeen or eighteen, and he had sandy hair. He had an athletic and muscular build, and a bright cocky smile. He also had blue eyes, and I would be lying if he wasn't good-looking. And, in other words, he looked like he could pass as Luke's brother, but taller.

"Hello?" I asked, still tremendously aching.

The guy smiled. "Hello. My mother works here as the school nurse, but she's sick so I'm filling in her place." The guy closed the door and leaned on the table next to the door. "I'm Apollo. Jason Grace and Silena Beauregard carried you here. They're waiting outside with the rest of their friends. You're Nico, right?"

"Yeah." I nodded. "How…did you know?"

Apollo nonchalantly shrugged. "I looked through the files for whoever looked like you. You were sleeping for about five hours."

"_Five_?!" I incredulously asked.

"Yeah, we already informed your teachers and your dad about this incident," Apollo explained. "You've been excused from your clases until you're better to move. Are you feeling better?"

I heavily sighed, knowing I was going to get beaten by my father when I get home. "I'm just aching, that's all."

Apollo smiled. Apparently he didn't see my negative reaction before I replied. "That's good. I'm going to let Jason and a few of his friends come in. Is that okay?"

I debated that for a moment. "How long have they been waiting?"

"They've been waiting since lunch started, and it started thirty minutes ago." Apollo chuckled. "And, I'm serious. They literally ate their lunch here."

I sighed. "Fine, bring them in."

I wasn't sure why I let them in at that moment. Maybe I just felt bad that they waited since lunch started? I don't know why, but that was when it all started. And, now that I think back on it, at that time, I really regretted letting them in. But now, I honestly don't.

Apollo opened the door and called for them, though I couldn't tell what he was saying. Apollo stepped out of the way. "I asked for only a few to come in, since I didn't want to overcrowed this room. That alright?"

"Yeah, that's fine," I replied.

The first one to step in was Jason Grace. The next was Piper McLean, then Annabeth Chase. Silena Beauregard followed, along with Reyna Avila-Ramirez Arellano. And the last one to come in was—just by luck—Percy Jackson.

Piper McLean tried not to be pretty, and even though I was gay, I would be blind to not see how pretty she was. She was of Native American decent, with chocolate, dark brown hair that was cut unevenly and very choppily. She had thin, braided strands on either side of her hair, with feather tied into them. Her eyes changed from blue to green, depending on the lighting they were under. She had a tomboyish appearance, which was one of the many things that made Piper so unique.

Silena Beauregard was also very beautiful. She had light blonde hair that was slightly wavy, and it went down to half of her back. She had stunning, crystal blue eyes, and she had perfectly tanned skin. She was also very slim, but not unhealthily slim. She always wore a headband in her hair, and today she was wearing a white headband with a big, sky blue rose stuck onto it.

Reyna was also pretty, in my opinion, though some people has different opinions. She had glossy black hair that was in a single braid, draping over her right shoulder. She had piercing black eyes, and because of her attitude, I was surprised she wasn't friends with Luke Castellan and the others. She usually wore purple and/or black clothing.

Annabeth started, "Are you—"

"Nico?!" Percy exclaimed, looking very bewildered and shocked.

His other friends stared at him with puzzled expressions.

"His name's Nico?" Jason inquired.

"You know this kid?" Reyna snorted.

"Yeah." Percy stepped forward until he was right next to my bed. "No wonder you knew my name without me telling you. Why didn't you tell me you went to the same school as me?"

"Wait, wait, wait." Annabeth came up next to Percy. "How do you know him?"

Percy answered, "He was the one playing the violin in the park yesterday."

"Really?" Silena gasped. "You play so well! You must've been taught really well. Who's your teacher?"

"My mother," I murmured. I didn't want to be reminded of my mother, at least, not here.

"Really?" Silena smiled. "She must be so kind." I wanted to correct her last sentence, unfortunately. She _was_ kind.

Percy huffed, "How come you answer _her_ questions but not mine? Nico, why didn't you tell me you went to the same school as me?"

I shook my head. "Not important."

"Of course." Percy rolled his eyes. "I was expecting you to answer that."

I smiled, which was really rare for me. Ever since my mother and Bianca died, I never smiled. I don't ever remember smiling after their deaths. It was weird, smiling for the first time in five years.

Percy glanced at me. "You know, now that I think of it, I never saw you smile yesterday. Why don't you ever smile?"

How did he notice that I never smiled yesterday? I put the question in the back of my mind. I shook my head. "Not important."

"What _will_ you answer?!" Percy cried out, groaning.

"Maybe he just doesn't like you." Piper giggled. Now, I wanted to correct _that_ sentence.

"Well, who doesn't like Percy?" Silena swung an arm around Percy.

"Apparently Nico doesn't." Reyna crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. I _really_ needed to proofread their sentences.

"Are you feeling better, Nico?" Piper asked, changing the topic.

"I'm fine, thanks," I replied, trying to shove the thought of my father beating me up for this into the back of my mind. "I'm just aching, that's all."

Piper brightly smiled. "That's good to hear."

Annabeth was staring at me with such an intense gaze, and made me feel uncomfortable. Which was one of the reasons why I hated being around people so much. I was always really self-conscience. She was staring at me as if I were a Calculus problem, analyzing every single part, trying to solve the problem and find the final answer. Did I really come out as such a mysterious person?

"Annabeth!" Silena whined. "Stop making him so uncomfortable!" She swung an arm around Annabeth, making herself comfortable between Percy and Annabeth.

Annabeth shook her head, shaking her curly blonde hair tied back in a tight ponytail. "Sorry. I was just thinking about something, that's all."

"You're always thinking about something, you braniac," Reyna remarked. Annabeth rolled her eyes in response.

"What's your last name, Nico?" Silena decided to ask, ignoring Reyna and Annabeth.

"Di Angelo," I flatly replied.

Silena gasped once more, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "You're _Italian_?! Oh my god! That's so amazing! I wish I was Italian. That's so cool! Can you fluently speak the language?"

I sighed. I never liked speaking Italian because it reminded me so much of…their deaths. A lot of things remind me of their deaths. Sorry if I over-mention it. I may sound annoying, but it's true.

"Not important. " I waved the question away.

"But—"

"Yes, Silena." Percy smirked at the blonde-haired girl. "Feel my pain. Feel his wrath, just like me. Feel how unfair Nico is."

Silena playfully smacked Percy in the chest. "Shut up, Percy," She whined.

"Nico's such a mysterious person, huh?" Piper cocked her head to the side with a smile, setting her hands on her hips. "It'll be so much finding out more about you, Nico?"

I arched an eyebrow. "What?"

Silena tilted her head to the side, jumping up all the way to the side of the bed. "We're friends now, right?"

I stared at her as if she grew a second head. "Friends?"

Silena looked at me with a quizzical expression. "Yeah, of course. Right, guys?" She turned towards all her friends around her, who nodded.

My lips tilted downwards. "I don't think you'd want to be friends with someone like me."

"Well, why not?" Piper asked.

"He told that to me last time," Percy huffed, looking slightly annoyed. "He's going to say—"

"Not important," I finished for him with a laugh. It was such a full-hearted laugh, it was weird for me to just hear it. After five full years, _they_ were the ones that could bring out my laugh and my smile again. I felt like how I was before back when I was only ten years-old—a smiling idiot. Yet, I felt like myself again, and I wished it could've lasted forever like that. But, I knew it wouldn't. I suddenly stopped laughing, and apparently I looked really depressed and sadness was probably clouding my face when I stopped.

"What's wrong, Nico?" Percy asked, most likely concerned.

I shook my head. "It's…it's nothing."

Silena looked worriedly at me. "Are you sure? Look, no matter what you say to me, I'm still going to hang out with you until you finally give in and become friends with me." Silena smiled. "You seem like such a nice guy, it's weird how I never notice you."

"I never try to make myself noticeable," I said before I could stop myself. I slapped a hand to my mouth, realized right afterwards that I've said too much. "Just forget what I just said."

"How come you never…" Silena started before she stopped herself. "Never mind, I see you don't want to talk about it."

"Sorry," I quietly murmured my apology.

"It's fine!" Silena smiled, though I could obviously tell it was fake. I've done plenty of fake smiles in my life before to know how to tell between a genuine smile and a fake smile.

And it was that exact moment, my father decided to waltz in.

My father had a very formidable appearance to him. He was very tall and muscular, and he has albino white skin. He had intense black eyes and black, shoulder-length hair that was darker the midnight. He always wore an opal ring on his ring finger, but I already know that wasn't the same ring that my mother had, so he was probably married to some lady that I never knew of, but it was not like I cared.

"Hello, Mr. di Angelo," Apollo greeted.

"Hello," My father, Hades, greeted back. He stared at me with a very blank expression, which I knew was bad. "Nico, we must be going now."

"No," Percy cut in before I could get up.

"No?" Hades scoffed. "You can't tell me what to do. I'm Nico's father."

"What are you doing?" Jason hissed at Percy.

"I know that look on your face, and I hate to say it, but I've experienced it too," Percy explained. He later turned to me. "He's the worst dad you could ever have, isn't he?"

I stared shocked at him. My father glared at me from behind Percy's back, so I decided to be on my father's good side, even if I was going to get beaten up afterwards. I shook my head. "He's a fine father. What would make you say he was the worst?" I was a pretty good liar, along with my fake smiles and everything. I could be a pretty good actor, but I would deny that offer immediately.

Percy stared at me, still not buying what I had said. He frowned. "If you say so. But, don't hesitate to come to me when you're getting abused by him." He glared at my father, something I've never seen Percy ever do. I've never even seen this side of Percy before. I always thought that he had the nice, happy life that anyone would wish for. I always thought that he was always cheerful and bright, but I thought wrong, apparently.

"Percy, calm down," Annabeth whispered to Percy. "We shouldn't fight with him. He seems like a very…powerful person."

"Annabeth—" Percy started to retort.

"Shush, Percy." Annabeth looked sympathetically at her lover. "I know what you're most likely thinking right now. But, Nico sounds like he's telling the truth. And, if he's not, then don't push it. Some people need their privacy, right?"

Percy only sighed in defeat. "Fine," was all he answered. He turned to me. "We're friends now, right, Nico?"

I gulped. My father would not like the sound of that, and I could already see it written across his face in big, bolded letters.

Silena decided to join in, which only added more pressure onto me. "Yeah, Nico. We'll see you tomorrow, right? I'm still going to be friends with you, no matter what you say." She gave me a small smile. "I'll talk to you more tomorrow, Nico. And, we'll introduce you to our other friends."

"She's right," Piper joined in. "I'll still try being friends with you no matter what."

Jason smiled. "Me too. You seem like a nice guy, Nico. And, you're a huge mystery that I am dying to solve."

Reyna rolled her eyes. "That's Annabeth's doing. And sure, guess I'll be friends with you, Nico."

Annabeth still stared at me with that calculating gaze, but she nodded in agreement with the rest of her friends.

"So, you guys are friends of Nico's?" Hades asked with an unwavering tone, which really freaked me out. But, he always talked like that, but if he was asking something about me, I knew the result wouldn't be good. And, their answer would most likely lead to my doom. I knew they were going to answer: "Yes, we are friends with Nico."

But, the most unexpected answer came from the most unexpected person.

"No, not really." Percy stared at my father with a challenging gaze. "We've only just met him."

Hades nodded, looking slightly impressed. "I see. Well, let us go, Nico."

I gritted my teeth, but I knew I had to obey my father's orders. Percy looked like he wanted to retort with something, but Annabeth grabbed Percy by the arm and shook her head in a warning manner. Percy still looked very furious, but he didn't say anything, but it was like he had to bite his tongue to stop himself from saying anything.

I got off the most comfortable bed I've ever experienced in five years, and I would've almost fallen over if Jason hadn't caught me.

"Watch out, you're still aching," Jason warned. "Make sure to go easy on your body. Take a rest when you get home."

"Alright, thanks, Jason," I thanked, even though I knew what I was getting when I got home with my father.

Apollo opened the door for us. "I'll inform the office and your teachers that you left early with your dad, Nico." I only nodded in response.

My father and I walked out, the others behind me. Apollo waved goodbye before shutting the door. I looked around at the chairs set up against the wall by the door, and saw that they were occupied with what I guessed were Percy's friends. All of their gazes led up to me, and I knew they were all guessing that I was the one that got beaten up by Luke Castellan.

I could feel everyone's gaze on me as my father led me through all the halls, and soon towards the two double doors leading to the outside of the school. When we got to my father's two-seated black BMW, I wasn't looking forward to getting in. I wanted to run back into the school, not to Percy and to the others, but somewhere where I could be alone, all alone with my violin. Where I could play in peace with my thoughts, thinking about all those good times that I had with Bianca and my mother. But, I knew it wasn't possible.

When I got inside the car and shut the car door, I knew I wouldn't be able to listen to Jason's advice.


	5. Chapter 4

_**Author's Note: I had the plan of wake up and type, but instead I had the plan of wake up, turn on computer, bring out blank document, and then I had to make lunch! So joy, and I am finally sitting here and it's two in the afternoon. And I woke up at eleven. More joy. And now I even have Tumblr open as a distraction…yay.**_

_**Well, I may have said that Nico would get beaten up in the last chapter. Well, that was a mistake…it's this chapter! Sorry if it's written horribly and whatnot…**_

_**Now, I have my sister's Christmas blanket, my dog is curled up next to me, and Milk Tea. Time to type!**_

_**Note: Sorry for any kind of mistakes! I do not have an editor, so this fanfic isn't perfect in terms of grammar, punctuation, etc. **_

_**Warning: Language, child abuse, [[mentioned]] death, bullying (I'll add more along the way) **_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. I am definitely not Rick Riordan. Also, I got the "Hades abuses Nico" idea from some fanfic…though which fanfic I got it from I don't remember. Ciao!**_

* * *

**The Violin That Started it All**

**Author: Loving Healer**

******Part One: Nico di Angelo**

**Chapter Four**

* * *

Well, I'm screwed.

Right when I got home, my father looked around the neighborhood, most likely checking to see if anyone was watching. After he was done, he threw me into the house, and he stomped inside. He shut the door so loudly, it rattled the objects hung on the walls, and the hinges the door was connected to. He looked so furious, but I was already used to his death glares.

"You did a fine," He pinned my hands above my head with his left foot, "job," He stomped his other foot on my stomach, "wasting my time," He kicked the side of my face, "and my money. You owe me an apology," He stomped on my chest, "Nico." His voice was dangerously calm and he did that so he could (1) scare the living hell out of me, and (2) so the neighbors wouldn't hear.

I decided not to answer; I never answered whenever my father was abusing me. Sure I talked back to the bullies at school, but my father was different.

He threw me into a table against the wall, and I sat there, limp and in a daze. I never retorted against my father. I have once, and it was horrible. He broke my shoulder and some of my ribs, and I had to go to the hospital secretly. I didn't have enough money to pay off the whole amount, so I still owe quite a lot. My father still doesn't know about the secret hospital visit, because I begged the nurses to not tell my father, or he'd make me worse. They asked me how he could make it worse, but I waved off their questions. They finally gave in, fortunately.

He grabbed a fistful of my dark brown hair and pulled me up until he was standing to his full height, and we were face to face. He was scowling at me, and his teeth were tightly clenched. He was glaring venomous daggers at every inch of my face, as if I were a disgrace that shouldn't have been born into the di Angelo family. Well, he was most likely thinking of that. I thought that of myself as well.

My teeth were gritted as well, but it wasn't fueled from anger. It was fueled from pain. I was already aching before I arrived home, and my father was only making my condition worse. He was smart; he wouldn't injure anywhere where people could see the injury. That's why he always aimed for my chest, because he knew I wouldn't walk around school shirtless. But sometimes he aimed for my face, because he knew I was a loner at school, and that nobody would care what happened to me.

My father smirked. "I'm surprised that little fucker of a boy actually knew what I do to you just by my look. You better be wary of him, Nico, or something worse may be coming for you."

I gulped. Did he just tell me to stay away from Percy? You don't have to tell me twice, I've been trying to get rid of him for two days. Of course, I didn't open my mouth and tell him directly, or he would've beaten me up so more.

"You know," my father started, "I'm surprised you managed to make some decent friends. I'm surprised there are people who actually _want_ to be your friend. Are all of them _your_ friends?"

I didn't respond. I just stared right into the deep, black depths of my father's eyes, which held furious rage in them.

He tossed me on the ground and stepped on my thigh. "Answer me, fool!"

I shook my head, tears streaming down my cheeks as he stomped on my thigh and rammed the flat of his foot into it. I bit my lip to suppress a scream, but I bit it so hard that blood poured out of it.

He kicked me in the hip before muttering what a disgrace I was to his family, before leaving me on the ground of our living room.

* * *

School was a pain in the ass. I could barely walk because my father injured my thigh so much, and my chest hurt by just breathing. There was a bruise on the left side of my face, but I used my hand to hide it. I made a fake note with a fake signature to excuse myself from PE, which I did all the time because of my father. My PE teacher never paid any attention to the signature, since she could glance at me and already tell that I was in no good condition to participate.

It was lunch now, so I didn't get to go to PE yet. The note was in my binder, which was in my black backpack. I was trying to avoid Percy and the others, and I luckily never found them yet. They never found me either. So, I was sitting under a tree that was located in the field of the school, which was behind the school. No one really went here at lunch; they were usually in the cafeteria or just walking around and talking. So, I didn't expect anyone to find me here.

And, as usual, I was wrong.

"Nico!"

I hastily put my left hand onto my left cheek to hide the bruise, and I glanced to my right and saw Silena, Jason, and Percy. Well, there goes my luck.

"We've been looking for you everywhere this whole day!" Silena panted as they closed the distance between us.

"Yeah, we have," Percy agreed. "Where were you?"

"Attending school?" I raised an eyebrow. What was I supposed to say? _Oh, see, I've been avoiding you guys the whole day because you shouldn't be friends with a no-good loner like me who gets abused by their father almost every day. _

"Well, obviously." Jason rolled his eyes.

"I told you I would come talk to you today! And we need to introduce you to our other friends!" Silena pouted, crossing her arms.

"You really worried us, Nico," Percy said, his lips tilting downward.

"At least we finally found him," Jason said, offering a hand. "Now, come on. We need to bring you back to our other friends. Silena's not giving you much of a choice anyway."

"No, not really, I'm not giving you much of a choice." Silena giggled. "Now, let's go!"

Silena attempted to haul me up, but she pulled on my arm a little too harshly that I cried out in pain and dropped to the ground, grabbing my chest and my thigh.

Silena immediately came down next to me. "Oh my god! I'm so so _so_ sorry, I didn't mean to! Apollo said you should be healed by now, so I thought you were!" She put her hands out in front of me, but she didn't know where to put her hands so that I wouldn't be in pain.

"Woah, Nico, are you okay?!" Percy collapsed on my other side.

Jason was looking at me with one of Annabeth's calculating gazes. "Wait a second, you weren't injured in your thigh yesterday."

Silena and Percy glanced up at Jason, than back at me.

"What happened, Nico?!" Silena frantically asked me. "Did Luke or one of them beat you up again?! You should've told us! We would've given them a piece of our mind for hurting our friend so badly." She punched her left palm and grasped her fist for emphasis.

"I told you to rest yesterday. Did you even?" Jason crouched down next to me, worry filling his electric blue eyes.

"Not…important," I managed, grasping my chest from all the pain surging from it. It was so hard to breathe and talk; I hated it. Heat was running throughout my body, and it took so much effort just to breathe. It felt like someone was hammering my chest every time I took a breath.

"It's _obviously_ important!" Percy retorted. "What happened, Nico?! You can't wave it off like it's not important." Worry also filled Percy's emerald green eyes as he stared expectantly at me. "What happened?"

I clenched my teeth. "I can't….tell you…"

"Why not?!" Silena whined, her expression both frantic and worried.

"Nico, you've been hiding a lot of things from us, and we just met you yesterday," Jason pointed out. "Not counting Percy. But, we can't help you if you don't tell us what's wrong."

"He'd kill me if…I told you," I managed to say through clenched teeth.

"Who would?" Percy tried a more gentle approach. "We just want to help you, Nico. We're friends, even if you don't think we are. We _want_ to become friends with you, no matter who you are."

Silena nodded. "He's right, Nico. Friends help each other out. And, we want to make your life better. We've never seen you smile or anything, and I'm pretty sure there's a story behind why you don't. We want you to be happy, and the only thing you have to do is tell us what's happening."

I frantically shook my head, back and forth. "I can't."

"But—"

"Guys," Jason interrupted, "we're not making him feel any better if we try to force it out of him. Let's just get him back to Apollo."

"No!" I blurted out. All eyes turned on me. "He's going to…beat me up if he…finds out again."

Percy gritted his teeth, as anger flooded the eyes that I've fallen in love with. "Was it your father who did this?" I hesitantly shook my head in reply. But, Percy didn't seem very convinced. "It was…wasn't it? I saw the look in his eyes when he walked in…I knew he did bad things to you. My first step-dad, was horrible. He abused me in every possible, whether it was verbally or physically. The look in your dad's eyes was the same as my first step-dad's."

I glanced up at him, but I'm not sure what my expression looked like, because Percy looked even more furious as he stared down at me. "No…it's not…him. It's someone…else." But, Percy still wasn't convinced.

"We need to heal him somehow," Jason informed.

"Maybe we can ask Apollo to not tell his dad?" Silena suggested, glancing at the blonde-haired teen. "Then maybe whoever Nico's talking about won't beat him up."

"It's worth a shot." Jason nodded. "Percy, help me carry him. Silena, tell the others we'll be at the health office. You can go there afterwards if you want with a few people."

Silena nodded and sprinted away in the direction where they came from. Jason and Percy took one side of me and carried me up, helping me walk most of the way towards the health office, which was a long way from where we were. I'm surprised they even helped me walk the whole way. Were they really serious about being friends with me? Or was it just sympathy that they were giving me?

When we got to the door of the health office, Apollo glanced from Jason, to Percy, then back to me. He looked really shocked, but he ushered us inside and closed the door behind us. Percy and Jason set me on the super comfortable bed, and began doing a check-up on me.

"What happened this time?" Apollo looking for the right tools he would need.

"He won't tell us," Jason answered, disappointment in his tone. "It wasn't Castellan or anything though, I know that for sure."

Apollo nodded, taking in the information. "And, where is he injured?"

"As far as I know, his chest and his thigh," Jason answered.

"I think he has a bruise on his left cheek," Percy pointed out as he examined me with an unwavering gaze.

Jason glanced at my left cheek. "Yeah, he does."

"Do you know who did it?" Apollo inquired.

"No," Jason flatly answered, glancing back at Apollo.

"I see," He murmured. "Alright, you guys wait outside. I'll heal Nico up."

Percy and Jason nodded, and they headed out the door.

Later after getting myself healed and all of that, Apollo opened the door and called for Percy and Jason. But instead of just Percy and Jason coming in, Silena and a few others came in behind them. They were Leo Valdez, Will Solace, Frank Zhang, and Katie Gardner.

Leo Valdez, a Latino, wasn't on the football teams with his other friends, but he was friends with all of them, mainly because he was best friends with Jason since elementary school or something like that. He was considered to be the jokester of their group. Leo had curly black hair and dark brown eyes. He had pointy ears and he had a mischievous smile on his face. He had a slim build to him, but he wasn't as muscular as his other friends.

Will Solace looked similar to Apollo. He had sun-kissed hair and blue eyes. He had a body of that of a surfer's, and an athletic build. He was pretty tall, but not as tall as his other friends named Butch or Beckendorf (his first name is Charles, but he prefers to be called by his last name).

Frank Zhang was Asian-Canadian decent. He has short black hair and brown eyes. He was pretty tall, like Will, and he probably was a little shorter than Butch or Beckendorf (I'll explain them once I see them). He was lean, but muscular, and he had broad shoulders. He was also the boyfriend of Hazel Levesque.

Katie Gardner was dating Travis Stoll, one of the biggest tricksters of the school, next to his twin brother, Connor Stoll. She was a very nice person, and she had black hair and soft, caramel eyes. She was also slim and very pretty. Her hair was put over her right shoulder, and it went down to her shoulder blades.

"So this is the famous Nico di Angelo I've been hearing from Silena so much," Will commented.

"Silena's like, attached to you Nico." Katie giggled. "She talks about you all the time. You're probably our number one topic conversation ever since she discovered you yesterday."

"She's like how you would describe a 'fangirl', but over you instead." Leo smirked.

Silena slightly blushed. "I don't talk about him all the time! Do I?"

Percy, Jason, Will, Leo, Frank, and Katie all stared at her at the same time with a look that read: _Really?_

Silena laughed. "I guess I do."

"Hey, Apollo," Jason turned towards the blonde-haired healer, "can you not tell Nico's dad about this?"

Apollo arched an eyebrow. "Well, why not?"

"Nico doesn't really want you to," Jason answered.

Apollo frowned. "I can't really do that. When their child is injured, don't you think the parent would want to know?"

"He already knows," I muttered.

"He does?" Silena asked. "How come he hasn't done anything? Doesn't he care for you?"

I smiled a humorless smile at her. "Care for me? Please, no one cares about me anymore. I'm surprised you guys still stick around me."

Silena looked horrified from what I said to her. "Why would…no one care about you? You're such a great guy, Nico, you deserve to be happy."

I laughed a quiet, humorless laugh. "Too late for that now, I've already been living like this for five years. I'd probably live the rest of my life this way."

The most unexpected thing happened to me. Silena suddenly just ran up to me and hugged the breath right out of me. At least my chest felt better now, or I would've been crying out in pain.

"Silena, you're going to hug the life out of him," Leo commented.

"He deserves hugs!" Silena said from over my shoulder.

Jason rolled his eyes. "Just let her hug him. As long as he can breathe. Nico, you're still with us, right? Please tell me you are."

"He's breathing!" Silena answered for me. I rolled my eyes and sighed.

"Are we going to do a group hug now?" Leo grinned before bounding over to me and hugging me from behind.

"Yeah!" Katie, Will, and Percy all joined the group hug.

Jason sighed with a smile on his face before he grabbed Frank's wrist and dragged him over to the group hug.

"This is...weird," I commented.

"Don't tell me you've never had a hug before," Percy said before hugging me tighter. I probably would've been blushing down to my neck under different circumstances. "We need to hang out more, Nico."

"I don't know if that's a good idea," I replied, trying to stop myself from blushing.

"Why not?" Percy whined.

"Not important."

"You know, you can be really annoying sometimes."

"I try," Leo piped in.

"Not talking about you, Leo!" Percy laughed.

"But, he can be annoying," Jason added.

"_Very_ true," Frank agreed.

"I feel the love guys." Leo smirked.

"This is the weirdest group hug I've ever had," Will commented.

"That is also very true," Frank said.

And we continued like that until lunch was over.

* * *

After school, I was making my way home. Silena made it official that we were friends, and if I didn't show up to them tomorrow in the morning, she would hit me upside the head and criticize me. Some interesting group of friends.

I was very glad Apollo didn't tell my father, or he would've beaten me up, and I would've never gotten better. All I had to do was sneak inside the house without alerting my father later today, and this would've probably been the best day I've ever had in five years.

I didn't have anything better to do, and I didn't want to do my homework, so I decided to play my violin in the park where I usually played it. But, things seemed to not have gone as planned for me.

When I was walking out of the two double doors of the school, I heard someone call my name. I stopped in my tracks and turned around and found my crush, Percy Jackson.

"Oh, hey, Percy," I greeted. "What's up?"

"I already told you, we were going to hang out, remember?" Percy said as he closed the distance between us.

I tilted my head to the side. "I didn't think you were serious."

Percy frowned. "Of course I was serious." He smiled at me. "Now, let's go to my house! I want to introduce you to my mom and my step-dad!"

He grabbed my wrist and dragged me away to the direction of his house. Me? Going to my crush's house? I didn't know whether I should be excited or scared.


	6. Chapter 5

_**Author's Note: Tumblr is such a distraction for me I could get so much more done if the internet button **_

_**Was**_

_**Not**_

_**Right **_

_**There**_

_**I seriously need to close Tumblr now.**_

_**Sorry for such a long wait on the chapter! I got a bit busy doing stupid school things….**_

_**And, I stopped making my Percy Jackson edit just so that I could finish this chapter! You guys are so lucky, and I really wanted to see how this chapter would turn out anyway! This is probably my favorite chapter so far.**_

_**Anyway, this chapter revolves around Nico's visit to Percy's house, so look forward to it! So…many…Pernico…moments... **_

_**And by the way, my Spring Break is next week! So, look forward to an overload of chapters! Yay! (My Spring Break is so late is sucks.)**_

_**Note: Sorry for any kind of mistakes! I do not have an editor, so this fanfic isn't perfect in terms of grammar, punctuation, etc. **_

_**Warning: Language, child abuse, [[mentioned]] death, bullying (I'll add more along the way) **_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. I am definitely not Rick Riordan. Also, I got the "Hades abuses Nico" idea from some fanfic…though which fanfic I got it from I don't remember. Just remember that it wasn't my idea. The "Paul getting Percy into classical music" also wasn't my idea, but I don't remember which fanfic I got it from. Ciao!**_

* * *

**The Violin That Started it All**

**By: Loving Healer**

******Part One: Nico di Angelo**

**Chapter Five**

* * *

I can't believe I was getting dragged here.

Percy has been walking me to his house from the start all the way from school. He didn't even bother whether or not I had a different opinion on the matter. Even if I had work today, he still wouldn't budge. He wasn't really giving me a choice, so what could I do?

But, the one thing I found weird was that this neighborhood looked _exactly_ like _mine_. The house arrangement was the same, the houses were all the same, all the cars were familiar to my eyes, and I was pretty sure the really dark house to my left was mine.

"Percy, where are you taking me?" I decided to ask, because I was pretty sure Percy didn't live in the same neighborhood as me. Actually, I never went outside when I was around my house, so I guess I never could tell.

"To my house, of course," Percy answered like it was the obvious thing in the world.

My lips tilted downward. "Are you sure?"

Percy stopped and looked at me weirdly, but I couldn't shake the thought out of my head that he was _still_ holding my wrist. "Yeah, what would make you think that I didn't know where my house was?"

"Because this neighborhood looks exactly like mine."

Percy blinked at me. It took him a while for him to respond, but when he finally did, it was the simplest thing ever, and it was _not_ worth the wait. "Really?"

"Yeah." I pointed to the black house on my left with my free hand. "I'm pretty sure that's my house."

Percy glanced to the black house, then back to me. "Seriously? I pass by that house every single day when I walk home."

"Yeah, I'm serious," I flatly answered.

"You live in a pretty big house by the way," Percy commented as he glanced back at my house.

"Er…thanks?" I looked at him with a weird expression across my face.

Percy smiled at me. "No problem, Nico. Hey, guess that means I get to see you more often."

I frowned. "I don't think my father would want you over anyway. Maybe it's safer if I go to your house instead."

Percy cocked his head to his right. "Why would it be 'safer'?"

I shook my head. "Not important."

"Of course you would say that," Percy grumbled. I only smiled at him in amusement, but it soon faltered, since it reminded me so much of my ten year-old self, the person I would never be able to be anymore. My ten year-old self seemed like such a different person, I couldn't even believe it was actually me.

Percy took my chin in his other hand and lifted it up so we were making eye contact. "Why do you always look so sad when I finally make you smile or laugh? It worries me, Nico. I hate seeing you look so sad." His facial expression was full of worry, concern, and sadness. And, I hated seeing my secret crush look like that. It hurt me so much; someone like Percy should never be worried. He didn't deserve it. I wished I could just take it all away from him.

I shook my head, pushing his hand that was lifting my chin up away. "Not important, let's just go to your house, okay?"

Percy always seemed to know when I was hiding something really relevant about myself, because he didn't look very convinced. Yet, he still led me over to his house, his hand still grabbing my wrist.

It was across the street from mine, but three houses to the left. It was sky blue with a white roof along with a white front porch, a white garage that was on the right side of the house, and white double doors. His driveway that led up to the garage was a light tan, and there was grass in the front of the house to the left of the house. Gray stairs led up to the front porch of the door, and there was an insignia of a golden trident over the front double doors. Translucent, oval windows were on the doors, and the house was two stories. There were various windows on the top level, but I couldn't see any windows on the bottom level. They were most likely on the side of the house or behind.

"I really like your house," I commented as he led me up the gray stairs.

"Thanks." Percy grinned at me. "Though, it doesn't look as big as your house."

"My house isn't that big." I rolled my eyes.

"You're probably just used to how large your house is," Percy said, looking ahead so he could see where he was going. "Maybe one day if I could actually go into your house, it'd be the size of a fucking mansion."

I made a small smile. "It's not a mansion on the inside, I can tell you that at least." My smile faltered, as always. "And, I'm sorry that you can't go into my house. I would actually love having you over."

Percy glanced back at me, concern filling his stunning emerald eyes. "It's fine. I'm pretty sure you have a good reason to that, though what it is still remains a mystery to me."

"I…could tell you if you want me to?" I offered. I just wanted his sadness and worry over me to just go away. I would do anything to make it go away, even if I have to relive my horrible life by retelling it to him. It just shattered my heart just by seeing him look so sad, and I hated it. Why was I always like this around him? I could deny Silena so easily, but him it was just…different. Why did I like Percy so much?

Percy glanced at me, his expression now that of surprise. "Seriously? After all this time of you responding with 'not important', you're going to _finally_ tell me?"

I nodded. "Yeah, but, once we get inside."

"Alright." Percy smiled at me, before turning around to take out some keys from his front pockets, and unlocking one of the white double doors that lead into his house.

Percy pushed the door open and led me inside, his hand _still_ grabbing onto my wrist. It was driving me crazy that I had so much contact with Percy. Well, it wasn't a lot, but it was probably all I would get after that weird group hug in the health office.

"Hello, Percy," I heard a feminine voice greet from the kitchen.

"How was school, Percy?" I heard a masculine voice ask from the living room.

"Percy!" I heard a child's voice from somewhere deeper within the house.

"Here, come with me," Percy said as he dragged me to the kitchen by my wrist. "And school was great, Paul!" Percy called into the living room.

"Who's Paul?" I cocked my head to the side as he led me to his kitchen.

"My step-dad, it's kind of weird for me to call me 'step-dad' when I've already had one, one really horrible one. And, this step-dad is the best one ever, so I call him by his first name," Percy answered. I nodded in response.

When we arrived at the kitchen entrance, which did not have a door leading into it, there was a lady who didn't look very old. She had straight, long brown hair with only a few gray strands in it, and she smelled of sweets, even though she was washing the dishes. She had laugh and smile lines on her face, and sparkling blue eyes that seemed to change under the lighting they were under.

"Hey, Mom!" Percy called to the woman washing the dishes. "I want you to meet someone."

The woman turned around and brightly smiled at Percy. "Hello, Percy. Who is this?" She glanced at me.

"This is Nico di Angelo," Percy introduced me. "And, I have the strangest feeling that 'Nico di Angelo' sounds familiar somewhere…but…do you know where?"

"Nice to meet you, Nico." She nodded her head, the bright smile still on her gorgeous face. "I'm Sally Jackson, please just call me Sally. And, 'di Angelo' sounds pretty familiar to me. Though, the reason is vague. I might go look around and see where it came from. When did you guys meet?"

"I guess I met him two days ago." Percy rubbed the back of his neck. "He was the one playing his violin in the park."

Sally's eyes brightened up. "Really?! You must play really well, Nico."

I nodded my head. "Thank you." I really wanted to give a small smile or something, but I didn't want to give a fake smile, and even if I did, Percy would most likely know that it was a fake smile.

Sally's smile became wider. "You're always welcome here, Nico, let me tell you that now. A friend of Percy's becomes part of our family. We tell that to every single friend Percy formally introduces to us." She glanced at Percy. "And, Percy, you should introduce Nico to Paul, since Paul's into classical music and all. He would love to meet you, Nico."

"I know, Mom," Percy replied with a smile. He turned to me. "Let's go introduce you to my step-dad, and then I'll let you meet my younger brother."

I nodded. "Sure," I flatly replied.

His hand still on my wrist, he dragged me over to the direction of his living room. When we got there, there was a man who looked like he was in his thirties. He had longish salt-and-pepper hair, and he was currently wearing a brown jacket over a black T-shirt, and brown khakis. He kind of looked like a television actor; he would've passed as one. He was currently reading a hard-cover book, with the title being The Serpent's Shadow, by Rick Riordan.

"Hey, Paul!" Percy cheerily greeted as we stepped in front of him. "I want you to meet someone, and I think you'll like him."

Paul glanced up at Percy from the book. "Oh hello, Percy. How was school?" He glanced at me. "And, I'm guessing this is who you want to introduce to me."

Percy nodded excitedly. "School was great, thanks. And, this is Nico di Angelo, the one that was playing the violin in the park yesterday."

Paul raised both of his eyebrows at me. "Really?" Paul smiled and stared at my violin case that was hanging off my shoulder by the back strap. "And, I'm guessing that is your violin."

I nodded. "Do you want to see it?"

Paul's smile widened. "Of course. I'd love to. You know, I've even gotten Percy into instrumental music."

Percy smirked. "He did."

I swung the violin case off my shoulder and set it carefully on the ground. I got a hold on the zipper and zipped it all the way until the end, and lifted the cover up. I gently picked up the violin from its designated place in the case, and handed it to Percy's step-father.

"This is absolutely beautiful," Paul commented, amazed and in awe. "Where did you get it?"

"My mother got it from my father for a birthday present, but she gave it to me on my birthday since I loved to play her violin sometimes when I was little," I replied, remembering the time my mother handed it to me on my ninth birthday. She looked so happy when she saw how bright and excited my expression was. I wish I were like that again, and I wish she were with me like before. Before my father expressed his, what I call "secret hatred", for me.

Paul smiled at me and handed back the violin after inspecting it. "Does your father like instrumental music as well?"

My lips tilted downward. "I don't recall ever hearing my father say he liked it, nor has he ever listened to it, but I don't know."

Paul nodded, a smile still gracing his face. "Well, you boys go have fun. I've been reading this novel that I really enjoy."

"Paul, whenever I see you, you have a new book." Percy rolled his eyes with a smirk.

Paul chuckled. "Well, maybe that is true. Nico, do you like reading?"

I nodded in response. "I actually work at the library for part-time."

"Really?" Paul arched an eyebrow. "I wish I had you for a son. Percy refuses to do work."

"Hey!" Percy pouted and crossed his arms over his chest, finally removing his grip from my wrist.

Paul chuckled. "It's true, Percy. Just admit it."

"He's right, honey!" Sally called from the kitchen.

"I sometimes wonder why I still love you guys." Percy smirked. He grabbed my wrist once more, and led me up his stairs. The floor downstairs was wood, but once you ascended the stairs, it turned to light tan carpet. The rail was perfectly polished wood, and once we got up there, there were five doorways leading to separate rooms.

"Let's go meet my little brother." Percy flashed a bright smile at me.

"What's his name?" I cocked my head to the side as he led me to one of the rooms on the right side of the hall.

"Tyson," Percy answered. He knocked on the door. "Tyson? Can I come in? I have a friend I want to show you."

"Friend?!" I heard a child's voice from inside the room. "Coming!"

"How old is Tyson?" I decided to ask.

"Seven," Percy replied as the door was opened to reveal a boy who reached up to my lower thigh. Either I was really short, or Tyson was just really tall. I think I was just really short.

"Hey, Tyson." Percy grinned and ruffled the seven year-old boy's black hair. "This is Nico, a friend I just made."

"Hi, Nico!" Tyson cheerily greeted, shaking my free hand very roughly with both of his hands.

"Hi, Tyson," I managed to greet while my hand was being shaken up and down in rough gesture. "He has a lot of energy," I pointed out.

Percy laughed. "Yeah, I was like that too."

"How many people live here? I mean, I've only met three other people, but there's five rooms," I said.

"Well," Percy drawled, "one of them is the bathroom, and the other is a guest room. Then, there's my room, Tyson's room, and the master bedroom. I just have the guest room in case one of our relatives come and visit for a few nights or if one of my friends are staying over."

I nodded. "Alright." And, I was so relieved when Tyson stopped shaking my hand, I felt like my hand was going to get ripped right off by a seven year-old boy.

"Do you want something to eat or drink before we head over to my room?" Percy offered.

"No thanks," I denied, shaking my head. I was really nervous into going into Percy's room. I mean, how would you feel going into your secret lover's room? My heart was pounding against my chest, and my hands were sweating. At least I didn't look nervous, right? Percy wasn't pointing anything out, so I guessed I looked normal.

"Alright, then, I guess I'll show you my room." Percy led me to the room across from Tyson's, and opened the door. "Well, here we are."


	7. Chapter 6

_**Author's Note: Sorry for delays! I was typing my other fanfic The Rise of Two, though it isn't a pernico/percico fanfic. I also had to work on this stupid science project about Newton's three laws about motion and my Spanish One project "El album de mi familia". I'm done with the Newton's laws one, but I haven't even started my Spanish project…**_

_**And this chapter is smut so just a warning…**_

…

_**Just kidding it's mostly a flashback. They just met I mean I won't write them having sex when they JUST met, right? But, it'll come soon… I decided to shorten the flashback, since it talks about Nico's past life. But, that has A LOT of details in it, so I'm not adding the funeral and stuff as a flashback. Nico can just explain that part. The flashback will focus on the part when…let's just say…in the hospital.**_

_**I've always wanted to thank you guys for your constant comments! Maybe I should private message you my thanks as well…? Maybe I should, I have a lot of free time on my hands anyway. I'm just never used to being praised (like Nico in this fanfic) so I never expected there to be many people liking my fanfics (I always thought I was a horrible writer). But, thank you guys so much!**_

_**I also can't give much detail about New York, since I don't live in New York and I have never been there. In fact, I live across the country from New York—in South California. So, sorry for inaccurate details if I add any. And also, I don't know the names of all the wires and machines in hospitals…so that part might sound really stupid as well.**_

_**Oh, and a Guest asked for an idea! A really good one indeed. I might put it in the story. Muahahahaha… **_

_**Also, shout out to xoxodenisee and Keri89! I always look forward to your guys' comments every chapter I upload. Seriously guys, you've been with me since my first percico/pernico fanfic. I just seriously love you guys for sticking around with me. And, thanks to Rhysmottace for taking the time to private message me about how much they love the fanfic! I am literally super happy right now. **_

_**And on another note, my spring break finally started! Which also means more typing! Hurray!**_

_**Sorry for such horrible writing on emotion. I am just horrible at description, and description is basically most of the writing in a story. Which is why I truly think I suck at writing. **_

_**And by the way, Nico is STILL at Percy's house as well. This chapter is just mostly a flashback, so don't forget.**_

_**Happy reading!**_

_**Note: Sorry for any kind of mistakes! I do not have an editor, so this fanfic isn't perfect in terms of grammar, punctuation, etc. **_

_**Warning: Language, child abuse, death, bullying (I'll add more along the way) **_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. I am definitely not Rick Riordan. Also, I got the "Hades abuses Nico" idea from some fanfic…though which fanfic I got it from I don't remember. Ciao!**_

* * *

**The Violin That Started it All**

**Author: Loving Healer**

******Part One: Nico di Angelo**

**Chapter Six**

* * *

I can't believe this was happening. Wait, have I already mentioned that before? Well, whatever. I still can't believe this was happening.

Percy's room was a little messy, but at least it wasn't so messy that I had the sudden urge to clean it up. There were a few clothing items strewn on the floor, and the bed wasn't made, but otherwise, it looked pretty clean. There were various posters and pictures hung on the wall, and if I were to describe the room in one word, I would say: blue. The walls were blue, most of the posters were blue, the picture frames were blue, most of the clothes on the ground were blue, the bed was blue, and most of the things on his desk were blue. At least everything wasn't blue, or I would've gotten a massive headache from all the blue. Or, I probably would've walked out of this room seeing everything in blue forever.

"Wow," was the only coherent thing I could comment.

Percy chuckled. "I know what you're thinking. Everything here is _blue_."

"Yes actually, that was exactly what I was thinking," I answered with a smile. My lips tilted downward once I realized I was smiling. Shit, I totally forgot that I told Percy I would tell him everything. Shit, shit shit. I didn't want to do it, but Percy just seemed so sad about it and…I will never be able to keep a secret from my secret lover again.

Percy frowned at me. "Nico…" he started to say.

I shook my head. "You…want to know the story, right?"

"Nico, you don't…you don't have to."

I shook my head once again. "You wanted to know, right? And anyway, you keep worrying about me, and I hate that." My next sentence was only a mere murmur. "And, I'm not someone worth worrying over."

Percy's expression was sorrowful. "Nico, if you don't want to, I won't force you. I'm just curious. If it makes you feel bad, then I won't force you into doing it."

I sighed. "I'm still going to tell it to you. I've made up my mind already."

You're probably wondering: why didn't I deny his offer? Well, first of all, I _did_ make up my mind that I was going to tell him no matter what. Secondly, whenever I stopped smiling, I hated seeing that look for forlorn clouding his face, like it has _his_ fault or something. And thirdly, I hated the thought of him not knowing, like I was keeping a secret from him. And, I wanted to share everything with Percy, not counting the crush on him.

Percy still looked unsure of the decision I made, but he obliged. "If you want…" Percy led me to his very blue bed before I started my story. We sat down on the edge, while Percy slung his right arm around my shoulder, most likely for comfort. But, I couldn't help feeling nervous about what Percy would think about the story. Would he think I was lying about it? Would he think I left something out? And secondly, I was really nervous about being so close to Percy. I mean, I did have this huge crush on him and all. But right now, that wasn't important.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm my mind, and began my story.

* * *

[[Flashback]]

* * *

_"Bye, Mommy! Bye, Sis!" I waved goodbye to the white car backing out of the driveway, and disappearing around a corner._

_ My father set his hand on my shoulder. "Let's go inside now, alright? I'll be in my office working if you need anything."_

_ I nodded excitedly. "Okay, Daddy!" I grinned at him, and he kindly returned a smile._

_ He led me inside, shut the door, and locked it. "If someone rings the doorbell, don't answer the door. Get me instead. Got that, Nico?"_

_ I nodded. "Got it!"_

_ He smiled warmly at me. "Okay. Don't be too loud while you're playing around. I don't want you disturbing the neighbors. They can be rude if they wanted to be."_

_ I nodded once more. "Okay!"_

_ He nodded, a smile still gracing his face, before he strode out of the living room and up the stairs of our house._

* * *

_My father was downstairs in the kitchen when the phone suddenly rang throughout the house. I was watching television while playing Mythomagic—a card game I was seriously obsessed with. And when I say "seriously obsessed with", I am not joking. I had almost every single pack, even the super rare and special packs and cards. _

_ The phone stopped ringing, and I inferred that my father picked up the phone. I was staring off in the direction of the kitchen, wondering what the phone call was for. I shrugged it off. My father and my mother usually got phone calls from their work place, so I didn't think the phone call was all that important._

_ And, well, I was totally wrong._

_ My father calmly walked into the living room, his footsteps tapping against the wood flooring of our house. I glanced up at him from my Mythomagic cards with a puzzled expression across my face, silently asking him what the phone call was about. But, my father didn't budge. I could see in his eyes that he was angry—furious even—but he seemed to be attempting to control his anger, and not explode._

_ "Nico, get in the car," my father quietly—but dangerously—commanded me._

_ I set my cards down onto the ground and pressed the power button on the TV remote, turning off the TV. I pushed myself off the ground and dusted my clothes off. "What's wrong, Daddy? Where are we going?"_

_ "Nico, just get in the car," he repeated, his voice sounding angrier than before._

_ "But—"_

_ He wasn't very patient today, even though he was always a calm and patient man. Today, I didn't know what was up with him though. He took me by the waist and threw me over my shoulders. My eyes widened and I attempted to wiggle out his grasp, but his grip on my waist only tightened the more I struggled. He stomped to the car and threw me into the back seat, shutting the door very loudly. He got into the front seat of the black car, slammed the door shut, backed out of the driveway, and sped away at top speed to somewhere I didn't know of. I was getting dragged to an unknown destination. What was up with today?_

_ We arrived at the hospital. The whole car ride, I was staring at my daddy with both a pleading and perplexed expression. I wanted to know what was happening, and I hated being left out in the dark._

_ Well, at that time, I didn't know I would have to get used to being left out in the dark._

_ My daddy got out of the car and slammed his door shut. He dangerously stalked over to my side of the car, gently opening the car door, and offering me a hand. I stared at him with a bewildered expression this time, but I took the hand because I didn't want to be carried over the shoulder into the hospital this time. He shut the door and led me over to the hospital building._

_ The doors were glass, but automatic, so the opened automatically when my daddy and I stepped up to it. When we stepped inside, the hospital was pretty empty, but there were still a few people in there. My daddy stepped up to the front desk, and the receptionist glanced up at us from a really thick book—not as thick as the Bible though, I could tell you that for sure._

_ The receptionist had striking red hair, with eyes as silver as mist. She was wearing a doctor's coat, so I guessed she was a receptionist and a doctor. She was also pretty tall, and had thin black glasses perched upon the bridge of her nose. Her name tag read "Lupa Amulius"._

"_Hello," she put on a strained smile, so I could tell she was obviously bored. Well, I would be too, if I was just sitting there at the front desk with barely and business. "How may I help you gentlemen?"_

_ "I'm here to visit my wife and my daughter: Maria and Bianca di Angelo," my daddy requested. Wait, we were here to see Mother and Sis? Why? What happened?_

_ I glanced at my daddy, but he was avoiding my face, and instead, staring right at the receptionist for a reply._

_ Lupa nodded, glancing up from a few sheets of paper scrambled on her desk. "Oh, alright. It says that Bianca di Angelo is in Room 307, and Maria di Angelo is in Room 308. Only family members are allowed at this time." She glanced and pointed at me. "So, is this your son?" The receptionist directed at my daddy._

_My daddy nodded. "Yes, and thank you."_

_ Lupa only nodded in response as she watched my daddy grasp my wrist, lead me toward the elevator, and board it. She had unsettling eyes as she stared at me, like she knew my future and what was going to happen to me._

_ I never saw Lupa again._

_When the elevator door opened up to a new floor, my daddy walked out of the silver doors, not sparing a glanced towards my direction to make sure I was still there. He walked along in the hallway, scanning the golden numbers on the doors, most likely looking for "307" and "308". I was just looking around the hospital, admiring the scene._

_ The hospital was mostly white, and it was perfectly white as if it were newly built. The doors were white, with golden numbers inscribed into the door. The doorknobs of the doors were also golden—perfectly polished. The floor was white tile with a tint of blue in them, and the hallway seemed to go on forever. A few doctors and nurses rushed by, but otherwise, I didn't see anyone else in the hallway._

_ My daddy halted in front of a door: Room 307. As I recall, my sis was in this room. But the question was: why was she in this room that belonged to the _hospital_?_

_ My daddy pushed open the door and stepped inside. I timidly walked behind him, half cowering behind my daddy, and half looking into the hospital room that apparently inhabited my sis, Bianca, or Bia._

_ The hospital room was also mostly white, matching the hallway. The room was split so that it could inhabit two people in the room, with a thick, blue curtain in the middle of the room. The half that we could currently see inhabited Bia. She was in a white bed with a white dress with faint blue, vertical, and thin stripes on that people usually wore at the hospital. The bed was queen size, with a silver bed frame. EEG wires with "stickers" at the end were connected to her head—for any signs of a concussion. Her right leg was held up by a supporter that hung from the ceiling, and Bia's right leg was wrapped in a blue cast. She was conscious, and when we stepped in, she carefully turned her head towards us and smiled._

_ "Dad! N-Nico!" She exclaimed, though she couldn't move out of her position on the bed._

_ Daddy immediately rushed over to her, with me at his heels. "Bianca…what happened?!" He demanded._

_ "When Mom and I were on our way back to the house, this truck drove out from a place full of stores, and started driving on the wrong street. Mom and I were the first to crash into him, and a few more as well. Policemen came in and told me the truck driver was drunk. I'm pretty sure they told Mom too, but she…" Bia's voice faltered. A tear found its way down her cheek. "Mom tried to protect me before we crashed. She knew we wouldn't be able to escape or dodge the crash, so she jumped in front of me before we crashed." Tears were now rushing down. "I couldn't…she was so…I just—"_

_ "Calm down, Bianca." Daddy placed his hands on her shoulders. "Tell me, are you okay?"_

_ "I'm…" She sniffled, "fine…but Mom—"_

_ "We'll worry about her later, alright?" Daddy's hands grasped more firmly on Bia's shoulders._

_ She sniffled once more, letting the tears run down her cheeks, but she nodded silently._

_ Daddy let go of her shoulders, and he glanced at me. _

_ No tears were running down my cheeks, but I felt horrible. My teeth were gritted, and I was more furious than sad. My hands were clenched tightly into fists, and I was visibly shaking. That horrible truck driver. Why did he have to do such a thing? I was feeling so horrible, like this was my entire fault, even though it wasn't. A wave of warmth washed over me from my sadness, but I was still feeling more furious than ever in my ten years of life. If Bia looked like this…then…what did Mommy look like?_

_ "Can we...see Mommy?" I hesitantly asked my daddy._

_ He nodded quietly. He walked over to me and put his hand on my shoulder. Without turning around, he told Bia, "Make sure it doesn't happen, promise me, Bianca."_

_ I glanced over my shoulder at Sis, and saw Bia nod. "I promise, Dad."_

_ He led me out the door, with his hand on my right shoulder. I never knew what "it" was, but the next day, "it" actually happened._

_ We went to the next room: Room 308. I was hesitant and scared about seeing Mommy. What did she look like? How much did she suffer? How much pain was she currently enduring? But, Daddy was anxious to see her. He pushed open the door without a glance at the room number. He waltzed straight into the room and towards the bed that currently held my mommy._

_ Mommy was wearing the same thing as Sis, but her right leg wasn't supported and held up by a cast. _Both_ of her legs were supported and held up, but instead of a blue cast, they were thick, white casts. There were many stitches all over her skin—from her chin, cheeks, forehead, and arms. EEG wires with "stickers" at the end were connected to her forehead where there weren't any stitches A blood bag hung from a gray stander sat next to her bedside, with a wire running from the end of the blood bag that connected to her left forearm. She looked so weak and frail, and I hated it. She was barely conscious, not looking as well as Bia._

_ "Maria…" Daddy rushed over to Maria's bedside and knelt down, gently caressing her face._

_ "Honey…I…I'm sorry," Mommy managed to make out. Her voice sounded weak as well, like her throat was crushed into a tight fist—a fist as tightly clenched as mine were. It sounded as she hadn't talked in years, which made it all the more worse because she talked to me perfectly fine this morning._

_ "Don't speak, it'll make you worse," Daddy informed, wiping a tear that was making its way down Mommy's face._

_ She managed a nod, closing her eyes and letting the tears fall, not even making an attempt to wipe them away. Daddy just knelt there, examining every part of her face as if it would make her feel better again like this morning. It was eerily quiet in the hospital room, and it looked exactly the same as Bia's hospital room._

_ After what seemed like a few moments, I realized my face was wet. I slowly released one of my tightly clenched fists and gently touched my face, as if it were extremely wounded like Mommy's. I examined my fingers once the contact between my fingers and my face was lost, and I realized I was crying. The tears were running down nonstop, and I couldn't stop them no matter how much I tried to wipe them away. So I just stood there, letting the tears drip down my chin, as I watched Mommy's and Daddy's silent scene._

_ Mommy's eyes flickered over to me. "Ni—Nico…come here to Mommy."_

_ My eyes widened as the sight of Mommy's expression. It looked so broken, like she's seen Hell itself. Her face was full of stitches and bandages, and her eyes were full of pain and sorrow. Her lips were tilted down, but I could see she was trying to make an effort to smile at me, to make me feel better and not cry. But, it wasn't working. I cried more just by seeing her like this. Neither Bia nor Mommy deserved this. What did they do in life to make this happen? They've never done anything wrong, so why was this happening to them?_

_ I stumbled over next to my daddy, and knelt beside her. She tried to reach up and caress my cheek, but Daddy's other hand found hers, and he held it there in place._

_ "Mommy…are you…are you going to be…okay?" I asked her with wide eyes._

_ "I will, sweetie. Everything will be okay," She replied with a tiny smile—probably the biggest smile she could even make. I knew she was lying, she surely didn't look okay. I knew she was just saying that to make me feel better, but I couldn't help but feeling my heart shatter from hearing my mommy lie. She never lied. She always had this warm and tender smile to her gorgeous face. I knew it was so she could make me feel better, but I couldn't help feeling bad about how Mommy lied just to make me feel better. _I_ didn't need any comforting, my mommy needed it more._

_ Mommy glanced at Daddy. "Honey, please, take care of Bianca and Nico. I don't want them…to have the same fate as me. Please, for me. They're my children—our children. I hate to…put this all on you…to take care of them. I'm so…so sorry—"_

_ Daddy silenced her with a tender kiss to her lips. A light, but passionate, kiss. I felt like intruding by staring at them, so I looked away and instead, stared at the blank, white ground. The ground that expressed absolutely nothing—no feeling, just stories full of sorrow from recent patients at the hospital. The life that I would soon have. But at the time, I never knew._

_ When I glanced back at my parents, my eyes widened so much, I thought they would bulge out. Daddy was tucking a strand of hair that fell over my mommy's face behind her ear, but my mommy's eyes were nowhere to be seen. Her eyelids were closed, and the only breathing I heard came from my daddy and me. Her whole body was relaxed—yet, limp. And, I was old enough to know what this meant when in a hospital._

_ "Daddy—"_

_ "Don't, Nico. Don't."_


	8. Chapter 7

_**Author's Note: I realized that I have been typing "sympathy" instead of "empathy". Well shit, I'll have to go back and change that now.**_

_**You guys are so amazing I don't even know what to say anymore. I am so full of happiness right now I literally woke up, took out my phone, and read your comments. They just make me so happy I just can't! **_

_**And, as for your guys' comments on "Why does di Angelo sound familiar?" I'm getting there, don't worry. It'll most likely be in the next chapter or the chapter after that. I haven't decided on that just yet. But, I have the whole plot planned out already! So get ready to experience it!**_

_**So, the beginning of this chapter is supposed to be super emotional and depressing, but you guys just made me so happy, I don't think the emotion is written well in this chapter. Haha, so sorry for that! (I get happy way too easily.)**_

_**And, Keri89, I'll private message you for help on my Spanish Project if I need it!**_

_**Also, I don't have a specific update time. I just update whenever I can. So, sometimes it'd be really fast and sometimes it'd be really long. Just pointing that out to you guys.**_

_**On another note, the flashback is over, so now Nico's just going to explain the rest to Percy. The question is: how will Percy react? Heheheheh, let's find out, shall we? **_

_**Note: Sorry for any kind of mistakes! I do not have an editor, so this fanfic isn't perfect in terms of grammar, punctuation, etc. **_

_**Warning: Language, child abuse, death, bullying (I'll add more along the way) **_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. I am definitely not Rick Riordan. Also, I got the "Hades abuses Nico" idea from some fanfic…though which fanfic I got it from I don't remember. Ciao!**_

* * *

**The Violin That Started it All**

**Author: Loving Healer**

******Part One: Nico di Angelo**

**Chapter Seven**

* * *

"Nico, you don't—"

"I'm not…I'm not done…"

Tears were flowing nonstop down my face like the day when I saw my mother die. I tried to hide them with my bangs, but Percy obviously knew I was crying. My hands were clenched in my lap, and they were visibly shaking. I didn't even make an attempt to wipe them away. The tears dripped from my chin down to my hands, and my teeth were clenched tightly together. I didn't spar a glanced at Percy; I didn't want him to see me like this. It was pathetic.

"You don't have to…you can stop if you want," Percy offered.

I shook my head from side to side. "I promised I…would tell you the whole thing, right?"

"Nico, this is obviously breaking you. I hate seeing you like this. I understand, you can stop now."

I couldn't see Percy's face, but I knew he had that sorrowful look to his face, like it was _his_ fault. "I'm not going…to stop."

Percy added another arm around me, so he was hugging me now. "I hate seeing you like this. You can continue the story if you want, but you don't deserve any of this, Nico."

I wanted to tell him that I _do_ deserve it, but I decided against it. "After my mother died, we…we went back to Bianca. My father told her that my mother," my voice cracked, "passed away. Bianca cried for what seemed like…like hours. But when she stopped, we l—left.

"In the morning of…of the next day, at around five, my father…he….he received another phone call. I was asleep then, and my father planned to keep…to keep me that way. He didn't want me to know that…that…" I couldn't say the next part. My voice died on me whenever I tried.

"I understand, Nico." Percy was rubbing comforting circles on my back. "Continue from after that part."

I nodded. Since when did I start crying onto Percy's shoulder? I ignored the fact, but I didn't hug him back. "When I woke up, my father, he was…he wasn't in the house. I looked all over f—for him, but I couldn't…I couldn't find him. I thought he went back to the…to the hospital to see Bianca, so I waited for him."

I ended up clinging onto Percy like it depended on my life. "When he came back, it was…it was four in the after…afternoon. I asked where he went, but he…he refused to tell me. The only thing he said was, we were…to go to a funeral for, for _two_ people."

The tears flowed down my face even faster than I thought possible onto Percy's shoulder. "I asked why two people…but he just shook his head and gave me a sym—sympathetic look. Later in the day, I asked to see…to see Bianca again. But he said it wasn't poss—possible. I thought he meant the hospital didn't…didn't allow anyone at the time. But the t—time was only ten at night. I just…let it slide by.

"That night…I was thinking about my mother. And that's when…that's when I realized…Bianca…she—"

"You don't have to say it, Nico," Percy assured me.

I cried for awhile onto Percy's shoulders at the thought, before I replied, "I don't think…I can say it.

"When my father and I went…to the funeral a week later, I cried…so much, my father guessed that I…that I found out about the s—second p—person. I wished I never…never found out.

"A few weeks later, I was…_still_ crying about them. My father knocked on my door. He left me alone for those weeks. He left food outside my…my door for me to eat. I was so happy that…my father was still with me. But I—I was s—so wrong about…about that.

"When he knocked on m—my door, he told me we were moving to New York. I didn't reply, but I didn't think...think he was kidding. So I, packed. It was hard…packing with tr—trembling hands. B—but I managed.

"My f—father packed everything else in…in the house, and the furniture in my room. He didn't bother asking me…asking me for help. He did it all by him—himself. Four or five months l—later, we moved to New York by…by car. I didn't know why…but I…I was to depr—depressed to ask.

"After everything was put into pl—place in our new house, my father left me alone a—again. I never stopped crying until I…I turned twelve. He didn't force me to go to school or…or anything.

"When I finally got…got over it, I came out of my room. My father was downstairs watching TV. He came up to me and hugged me…so tightly, and told me everything…everything will be okay. When he let me go, he smiled at me, and p—patted my head.

"Afterwards, the next day, he enrolled me into a school. When I was walking into the school, he hugged me and smiled at me a—again. I didn't know that would be the…the last smile I would ever see from him…from him again.

"I walked home, so when…when I came home. My father punched me. I didn't…I didn't know why, but he started yelling at me. He yelled at me that…that I should've been the one to die. He yelled I was the worst out of the whole f—family, and that Bianca should've lived in…in exchanged for me.

"From that day for—forward. He beat me up, every single time he…he saw me. It was like something possessed…him or something. So, I tried to av—avoid him. And my life has been…been like that ever since. He's called me a failure b—but I never knew _what_ I did. But I never…yelled back at my father.

"I did…once. He looked at me like…like I was a dead and appalling animal. He broke some of my…ribs and my sh—shoulder. I still have to pay off the…the cost at the hospital. I went there secret—secretly. I begged the doctors to not tell my f—father. He still doesn't…know."

I silently sobbed into Percy's shoulder for what seemed like hours. Percy's shoulder was drenched with my tears, but he made no attempt to push me away. He held me there, rubbing soothing circles on my back. The only thing heard throughout the room was my sniffling. I'm just glad I had Percy to help me through this time, even if it was sympathy.

* * *

I woke up, with no clue of my whereabouts. I was pretty sure I was in my room, but the bed was way too comfortable. I didn't open my eyes when I woke up, but I was too tired to open them. Until I realized that someone's hand was playing with my hair.

I bolted up and realized I was laying on someone. I also realized that this was not my room. It was _way_ too blue. I looked down with wide eyes and ended up finding my secret lover: Percy Jackson.

"Oh hey, you're awake." Percy pushed himself up until he was sitting in an upright position next to me.

"How did I get here?" I was scanning the room until my eyes fell upon Percy once again. His hair was pointing in different directions, but that just made him all the more appealing to me.

Percy had a quizzical expression upon his handsome face. "What are you talking about? You fell asleep here."

"I…did?" I cocked my head to the side.

"Yeah." Percy eyed me weirdly. "I asked you to come over my house after school, and I introduced you to everyone here. You then told me about…" Percy hesitated, "your story."

My bewildered expression disappeared. I thought that was all a dream. Meeting Percy Jackson and everyone else, and them trying to become friends with me. I didn't think all of that was real.

"Of course it was all real," Percy said out of the blue.

I glanced up at Percy with a puzzled look. "What are you talking about?" It sounded as if Percy just read my mind. "And by the way, how long was I asleep?"

Percy rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "Well, you fell asleep at around four or five, and right now, it's ten at night. And, you just said that you thought meeting me and the others was all a dream," Percy explained.

I looked up at him with wide eyes. "I said that?" I pointed at myself. Did my mouth decide to voice all of my thoughts?

Percy smiled down at me. "You are so weird, Nico. Of course you said that."

I blinked blankly at Percy. "Oh," I flatly replied, "well, that was involuntary. I didn't mean to say that out loud."

He chuckled at ruffled my already messed-up hair. "It's alright. It happens all the time, even for me. That's why my parents know so much about me now."

I rolled my eyes. "Wow," I flatly responded. I swung my legs over Percy's blue bed until my feet touched the ground. "I think I'm going to go home now." I glanced at Percy. "See you at school, I guess." I was pushing myself off the bed, when I felt Percy's hand grab mine. I glanced at him. "What?" I asked him. I was trying really hard not to blush in front of him.

"You're _not_ going home after what you just told me," Percy answered with an unnaturally serious tone to his voice.

"What are you talking about?" I turned so that my whole body faced him.

"After everything you told me, and everything I heard you say about your dad? I'm not letting you go back to your house while he's there. If I can stop all of the pain you're enduring, then the least I can do is stop your dad from abusing you. And one way to do that is by not going back to your house." Percy smiled up at me. "You can stay here if you want. We have that extra guest room that I talked about earlier."

I stared at him with the completely bewildered expression across my face again. "Are…are you serious?"

"As plain as day," he replied. "I'm not kidding, Nico. You've been through a lot. And, I don't want to see you suffer anymore."

I scoffed. "Seriously? We just met. I don't even think we're considered as close friends, and now you're offering me a place to stay at your house. How do you even know that I can be trusted?"

Percy continued to smile at me. "I think we're considered close friends now, since you just told me a part of your past life that you've refused to tell anybody. And, you trust me with that story, since I know you don't want me to tell that to just anybody. So, if you trust me, then I trust you."

I continued to stare at him like he grew a second head. I didn't even know my mouth was hanging open until I talked again. "You…are absolutely unbelievable, Percy," I replied slowly.

Percy shrugged. "I get that a lot. So, are you going to stay?"

I sighed. How was this going to turn out? If I rejected, Percy would be really depressed, and I would keep getting abused by my father again. If I accepted, Percy would most likely find out about my crush on him. And, what would life turn out to be if I stayed at my _crush's_ house?

My lips tilted downward at my answer. "Fine, I will. But, first off, I don't have my stuff here. Second of all, do your parents even know?"

Percy seemed to be deep in thought, until he replied, "I'll ask my mom and Paul if you can start living here. Just wait." He released his grip on my hand, opened the door, and walked outside into the direction of his parents.

I stood there, my gaze still fixed onto the door Percy just left out of. Did that really just happen? Am I really going to stay here at my secret lover's house? How exactly was this going to turn out? My life just totally made a turn. My life seems so different now, now that I had _friends_. It was weird, thinking that someone actually cared about me, after all those five years that I had suffered. Either that, or they were just giving me sympathy, something that I refused to take.

After a couple of minutes, Percy walked in with a grin plastered onto his face.

"I'm guessing they said yes," I guessed as Percy stood in front of me.

Percy nodded. "They did. That makes it official that you're staying here. And as for your stuff...do you have a window installed into your room?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"Do you have a window in your room?" Percy asked again.

"Well, yeah but, what does having a window in my room have to do with getting my—" I stopped as the gears in my head began turning.

Percy smirked as he realized what I was thinking. "_Exactly_. This is going to be _so_ enjoyable. Just watch, Nico."

* * *

"I can't believe we are doing this, Percy."

"You don't believe in a lot of things, do you, Nico?"

"Well, yeah, that's because I've never snuck into _my own room_!"

Apparently, Percy's plan was to sneak into my room to gather all my things before my father finds out about it. And that was why we needed the window. _That_ was our secret entrance into my room. Who knew Percy's step-dad would agree to Percy borrowing his ladder for an unknown reason? His parents must really trust Percy.

"I am so glad you didn't lock your window." Percy breathed a sigh of relief after he hauled me up into my room.

"That's because I didn't think there would be anyone as crazy as you." I rolled my eyes at him.

Percy smirked. "Well, excuse me for my craziness."

I sighed. "Well, let's just start. I'm not going to pack _everything_, or we would be making more than one trip."

Percy nodded, examining my room. "Agreed. And, you have a really big room. I told you your house is a mansion."

I rolled my eyes again. "It is not."

My room was bigger than an average bedroom, I'll admit it. But, I still think Percy was exaggerating when he said it was as big as a mansion. Instead of the room being blue, it was black. My super uncomfortable bed was black, the walls were black, the giant circle rug centered on the floor was black, my desks were black, my laptop was black, my bookshelf was black, my electric guitar was black (yes, I play the guitar as well), my violin case along with the violin was black, my amplifier was black, and the posters hung on my walls were black.

"You play the guitar too?!" Percy exclaimed as his gaze fell upon my black electric guitar.

"Yeah," I flatly responded. I glanced at my posters. "So, is that guest room mine now, or am I just borrowing it?"

Percy scoffed. "Are you kidding? You're moving in with me now. It's obviously your room now."

"Alright, then I guess I'll take my posters. And, I'll have to do something with the room being blue."

"You know, I can't tell if you're trying to be funny or not because you don't smile." Percy walked up to me, bent down until we were at eye level, and pinched my cheeks. "You should smile more, you know. You look se—" he cleared his throat "—better when you smile."

My eyebrows knit together while I stared at Percy, but I let it slide. I slapped his hands pinching my cheeks away. "We can't stay here forever, can we? Now come on, let's pack some of my stuff."

Percy nodded, getting back to his full height. "Okay, tell me what to pack."

"Okay. Well, I'm going to be packing my own clothes. But for now, get the posters, my violin, guitar, amplifier, books…"

After we finished packing my stuff, my father miraculously didn't know we snuck in. We were _very_ loud in my room. Percy's theory was that the house was so big, my father couldn't hear us. I only rolled my eyes at his stupid theory.

We climbed down the ladder and went home, carrying a bunch of my stuff, while dragging the ladder behind us. Good thing Percy didn't live very far.

Percy opened the door, since he asked his mother and his step-father to leave it open for us, and we stepped inside. Percy dropped the ladder in front of the door, and locked the front door we came in through.

"I'll just put the ladder away later, after we drop your stuff off into your new room," Percy said.

We trudged up the stairs in silence, until we made it to the guest room. It was as big as Percy's bedroom, and there wasn't a lot of furniture in there but a bed, a desk, a TV, drawers, a closest, and a lamp. Percy and I dropped my stuff onto the ground and I let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm going to go put the ladder back where I found it, and tell Paul I returned it safely. On the other hand, you can start unpacking. I'll help you when I'm done, okay?"

I nodded as Percy retreated my new room.


	9. Chapter 8

_**Author's Note: Sorry! This update was supposed to be up like…earlier today but I ended up getting addicted to a video game called "Pokémon Y" and I've been playing that. I promised myself I would get an update up today for you guys, so I had to stop playing (for now). **_

_**And guys, seriously I love you so much for your reviews you don't even know how much they mean to me, since I'm not all that used to praised, but I do like it. Nico, in this case, doesn't like praise. Oh well. I can still relate to Nico (a bit). **_

_**Anyway, the next chapter is the chapter where you guys get to find out why "di Angelo" sounds familiar! And, in case you guys get confused, in this fanfic, Nico is a fifteen year-old freshman and Percy is a seventeen year-old junior. It's a bit relevant to the di Angelo mystery.**_

_**Also, I couldn't find a description for Jake Mason, so I decided to give him my own description. So, if there actually is a description somewhere, then my description most likely doesn't match the real one. So, sorry about that.**_

_**So, I hope you guys like the chapter! So—many—Pernico—moments! **_

–_**fangirling- **_

_**Note: Sorry for any kind of mistakes! I do not have an editor/beta reader, so this fanfic isn't perfect in terms of grammar, punctuation, etc. I am all on my own on this fanfic…how sad.**_

_**Warning: Language, child abuse, death, bullying (I'll add more along the way) **_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. I am definitely not Rick Riordan. Also, I got the "Hades abuses Nico" idea from some fanfic…though which fanfic I got it from I don't remember. Ciao!**_

* * *

**The Violin That Started it All**

**Author: Loving Healer**

******Part One: Nico di Angelo**

**Chapter Eight**

* * *

"We can always paint your room tomorrow," Percy suggested as we walked to school together.

I shrugged. "I guess. Are you even willing to help me paint my room? You seem like a lazy person."

"Hey, if I get to bond with you, then I'll do absolutely anything."

Today was Friday, and yesterday on Thursday, was the day when Percy and I snuck into my own room. After Percy put away the ladder, he helped me unpack my things like he promised. It was silent while we were unpacking my stuff, and the majority of that reason was because we were both exhausted. So we unpacked my stuff as quickly as we could, and then drifted right off to sleep afterward. Percy was so tired he couldn't go back to his own room, so he slept on the floor of my new room.

"I am so sore today, I hate it. Good thing football practice isn't until Sunday." Percy yawned.

I rolled my eyes. "That's why I told you to sleep in a bed, not the floor."

"You wouldn't share your bed with me!"

"Well, of course not! Haven't heard of personal space?!"

Percy only pouted at my response, and I just rolled my eyes.

When we arrived at school, I was planning on darting away and into my own little world by the tree in the field, but Percy had other plans for me. He grabbed my wrist before I can even commence my darting-away-plan.

I stared up at him with a confused, but fake, expression. "Why are you holding onto my wrist? If you want to hold onto someone, go find Annabeth." I yanked my wrist out of his grasp.

Percy looked a little hurt by my gesture, but he rolled his eyes. "I know you were planning on running away from me once we got to school. I'm not _that_ stupid."

"Really? Never noticed."

Percy playfully shoved my in the shoulder and pouted once more. "You are so mean, Nico."

I shrugged. "I get that a lot. That's why I never hang out with people. I'm not a person that's very good at getting along with others."

"You got along with me and the others just fine."

"You guys tried four times to become friends with me, of course I got along fine with you after four times," I remarked.

"Hey, you seemed like a great guy to be friends with!" Percy defended.

My lips titled downward. "Did I?"

Percy rolled his eyes once more. "Nico, Nico, Nico. You aren't very bright when it comes to complimenting you, are you?"

"Well, no," I flatly replied. "I'm not used to getting praise so often, so I don't really know the difference between compliments and trying to be nice. I usually think you guys are just trying to be nice to me, since I got beaten up by Castellan and all."

Percy sighed. "You—are—hopeless."

Before I attempt to escape again, Percy grabbed my wrist once more and dragged me to where his other friends were.

"You've never even met all of my friends yet, and I think it's finally time you do," Percy said.

"Sorry, but I don't like being around a lot of people."

"If we have to, we'll introduce you to the ones you haven't met yet one by one."

I rolled my eyes. "And you call _me_ the hopeless one. I don't see how your friends can keep up with all of your crazy ideas."

Percy smirked. "You'll get used to it soon."

"I don't think I ever will," I sighed. "And by the way, I already know all of your friends."

Percy stopped and stared at me with a bewildered expression across his face. "You do?"

"Just their names."

Percy rolled his eyes. "That doesn't count."

When we arrived to Percy's big group of friends, I wasn't very prepared for a tackle that almost knocked me to the ground.

I staggered backward, trying to contain my balance. "_Uh_, hello?" I didn't know who it was, but I had a guess that was most likely right.

"Nico!" I heard Silena squeal. Yep, my suspicions have been confirmed. "I missed you!"

I rolled my eyes, not even attempting to hug her back. "It's been a day, calm down. I feel like a celebrity, something I do _not_ want to be."

Silena pulled back an arm length away, her hands on my shoulders. She grinned wide at me, showing her perfectly straight and white teeth. "I know it's been a day, but we should totally hang out more! I barely know anything about you!"

"And I plan to keep it that way," I grumbled.

Silena pouted. "Hey, I want to share some secrets with you too! You've been hanging out an awful lot with Percy. Why not me?!" She whined.

"Sharing involves two people, which means you've got to share some secrets with me," I remarked. "And I have the strangest feeling you don't have any secrets."

Silena tilted her head to the side. "Why's that?"

"Because you're a big mouth," All of her friends around her replied—including me.

Silena jumped and stared at everyone with wide eyes. "Hey!" She protested.

A guy of African-American decent smirked. "I am already liking Nico."

As I recall, his name was Charles Beckendorf, though everyone just calls him by his surname. He was really muscular and really tall, I was always afraid I would get crushed under his feet. I wonder if he had an intimidating presence during a football game. He had big hands that reminded me of catcher's mitts like in softball or baseball. His hands were also calloused, but that was because in his free time, he liked to invent machines with Leo Valdez and Jake Mason. They had a pretty strong bond when it came to building things.

Jake Mason had flat, short brown hair that was styled so that it looked like a proper schoolboy's haircut from a rich private school. He was as tall as Percy, and had hazel eyes. He also had calloused hands from building inventions, but they weren't as big as Beckendorf's. He typically wore nicer clothing than most people, and today he was wearing a dark blue cardigan over a navy blue shirt with white stripes and black skinny jeans. He also wore a pair of dark blue _Vans_ that matched his cardigan.

Silena sighed, shaking her head while swinging an arm around my shoulders. "I don't know why I'm friends with you guys."

"Hey, I know you love me." Beckendorf gave her a genuine smile.

Silena blushed. "I know I do, and I know you love me too."

Leo groaned. "This happens every single day. Get a—wait a second you guys already have. You guys do it way too many times if you ask me." Beckendorf and Silena blushed deeply at Leo's remark.

"For one of the first times in my life, I am agreeing with Leo," Reyna said. "And you guys all know that me agreeing with Leo is pretty rare."

"Hurtful." Leo pouted. Reyna only rolled her eyes.

"We don't do it _that_ much, do we?" Silena asked everyone, but no one replied.

Jake laughed. "Nico just met you and he already disagrees with that!"

Silena glanced at me hopefully, but I shrugged. "I bet it's true," I said.

And the day continued on like that…once I met everyone, of course.

* * *

After school, Percy and I walked home together after we said goodbye to everyone. Percy swung an arm around me, but I had to try really hard to not blush. I also had to try to not explode with jealousy at school whenever Annabeth and Percy were being intimate with each other.

"So, how was school?" Percy asked me, breaking the silence.

"I don't know, ask yourself," I replied. "You were around me almost 24/7 anyway. You would not leave me alone for a second, only when I had to go to class you would."

Percy chuckled. "Well yeah, I mean, if I let you off on your own, you would run away and hide from until the end of the day."

I rolled my eyes. "You'll see me at home."

"Well, yeah," Percy agreed. "But I don't want to pretend to not know you whenever we're at school even though we live in the same household now."

"Well, why not?" I glanced up at him, trying to get his arm around my shoulders off. But, he wouldn't budge.

Percy sighed. "You just don't get it, do you?"

I knit my eyebrows. "Get what?"

Percy stopped and stared at me with an unnaturally serious expression plastered onto his face. "You really don't see what I'm trying to do?"

I frowned at him. "No, no I don't. Tell me, Percy. What are you trying to do? Give me sympathy?"

Percy sighed. "No, I'm not. I can tell you don't want sympathy. I'm trying to be friends with you. Is it really that hard to see?"

I exhaled. "Yes, it is actually. I think that anyone who wants to be my friend is just giving me sympathy, and I hate it. I don't need it. Why would anyone want to be friends with someone like—"

I never got to finish, because the next thing I knew, I felt hot, stinging pain on the side of my face. I brought my hand up to the side of my face, and I realized that Percy slapped me.

I glared up at him, but my voice failed me. But, what did I even want to say? Why did you slap me? What was that for? I couldn't bring myself to be mean to Percy, after all he's given me. That's why I hated accepting sympathy. I could never bring myself to be mean to the other person, even though the other person probably never cared about me. That other person was just giving me pity, and I hated that. Plus, Percy was my secret lover, and I hated that as well. Why did Percy have to be so…perfect?

Percy still had that unnaturally serious expression on, and his voice was serious as well. "Why would anyone want to be friends with you? Is that what you wanted to say?" His voice also sounded angry, but I didn't want to think about it. "Why are you so harsh on yourself, Nico? Just because you had a harsh life, doesn't mean it'll be kept that way. Everything changes, even your life. Nico, you're smart, funny, talented, easy to get along with, nice, kind, yet you have no self-confidence or self-esteem. I could go on and on about all the good things about you. I'd defend you no matter what if anyone bad-mouthed you. You mean a lot to me, even if we just met four days ago. I want to be the one that'll make you smile without that look of sadness right afterward. I want to be that one person who would brighten up your day whenever you see me. I want to be the person who would make your life better, and make you think about yourself better than just a worthless, pathetic, and useless being. I used to think that about myself too, and I hate that someone I care about feels that way about themselves. When I met Annabeth, she was the one that made me feel better about myself. Now, I want to do that to you. Do you understand why I'm trying so hard now? I want to get it nailed into your brain." Percy sighed, the anger and seriousness leaving his face. "Look, I'm sorry for slapping you, and I'm sorry for sounding so mean. I just…I guess I got out of control, huh?" Percy removed my hand from my face and inspected it. He then put his own hand there in replace of mine and started massaging my cheek. I had to try so hard at this moment to not jump him right then and there. "Did it hurt? I'm really sorry, Nico. But when you belittle yourself like that, you don't know how bad it makes me feel, even if it's not even directed to me. Are you okay?"

I silently nodded, removing his hand from my face so that I didn't have to worry about blushing so much. Did Percy really care that much for me? It was a question I would never be able to answer. "I'm fine, and I'm sorry for making you feel that way. I never mean it."

Percy shook his head. "It's fine. But, I have a question."

I raised an eyebrow at him, raising my hand to my cheek again. "What is it?"

"Why do you hate human contact from me so much?"

At this point, I was trying to control my breathing and the beating of my heart, which was beating way too fast. I couldn't just tell him that I have had a secret crush on him since I first laid eyes on him. So I decided to play innocent. "What are you talking about?"

Percy sighed. "Well, whenever I put my arm around you or something, you always push it away. Like just now, you pushed my hand away when I was massaging your cheek after I slapped it. So I thought that you just hated human contact, and I thought it was because you were abused so much. But, earlier today, I noticed that Silena hugged you and put her arm around you, yet you didn't make an attempt you push it away. You didn't even look uncomfortable when it happened. So, I came to the conclusion that you hate contact from just me. But this whole day, I was wondering why you hate it. So, I just decided to ask you directly."

I gulped. I couldn't lie to him after all he's done for me. But, I couldn't tell him the truth either. I mean, what would he think of me? I sighed, deciding that I just couldn't tell him. "I…I can't tell you, Percy. I'm sorry."

Percy sighed again, but this time, that look of forlorn that I always hated clouded his face. Why did Percy have such an effect on me? I hate it, but I couldn't tell him that I liked him. I planned on never telling him.

"It's alright," Percy replied, though I could obviously tell that he _wasn't_ alright. "Let's just get home. It's Friday now, so we can do whatever we want. How about we hang out after we drop our backpacks and stuff off at home?"

I nodded. "Sure, why not?"

* * *

When we got home—well, to my new home—we heard Percy's mom, Sally, exclaim, "Percy! Nico! Come here for a second!"

Percy and I glanced at each other, but Percy shrugged. "Okay, Mom!" Percy replied, staring off in the direction where her voice came from. "But, where are you?"

"I'll be in the attic!" Percy's mom answered. "Come meet me there after you drop your stuff off!"

"You heard her," Percy said to me.

We jogged up the stairs and deposited out stuff in our rooms. I waited outside in the hallway for Percy, since I had no absolute clue as to where the attic was. Percy came out of his room and saw me waiting there. He probably took the hint that I didn't know where the attic was. He smiled and led me to the end of the hallway, where there was a ladder leading up to the ceiling.

"You can go up first," Percy offered.

I courteously nodded at him. "Thanks."

I climbed up the ladder, and after a few more steps up, I heard Percy climb onto the ladder behind me. When I reached the top, I offered my hand down to help Percy up. He stared at my hand like it had something wrong with it, but he soon smiled at me and took the hand. I hauled him up, and looked around the attic afterwards.

The attic was a bit dusty, but not as dusty as my attic at my used-to-be-home. It was dim, and there were many boxes lying around here and there, crowding up the attic. Many of the boxes had something written on the side in black marker, but it was too dim to read what was inscribed. The attic was wood, with not paint covering the walls or the floors. Good thing I was wearing shoes, because the floor was really dusty.

Percy tapped on my shoulder, getting my attention, and he led me to the right, where I found Percy's mom kneeling beside an open box, full of long and wide books that looked like photograph books. One of the photograph books was in Sally's hands.

"What's up, Mom?" Percy asked once we reached her.

"I found it," Sally answered like it answered all of the world's problems.

Percy furrowed his brows and tilted his head to the side. "What'd you find?"

Sally sighed, still not taking her eyes off a certain page in the photograph book. "Well, I had free time on my hand, so I decided to find out why 'di Angelo' sounds so familiar to us. And, well, I finally found it."


	10. Chapter 9

_**Author's Note: You guys I so amazing, I don't even know what to tell you guys anymore. You're reviews just make me so happy c: **_

_**Anyway, GinnyJackson and FairyGurl there are many types of Pokemon games, and each one has a different storyline. But, I think Pokemon X and Pokemon Y have only a little differences, since my brother and my sister agree on many things about the two games. **_

_**And guys, sorry that this chapter was so short. I'm not really sure why it was short, but whatever. I really enjoy this chapter. It was so fast and easy to write, unlike all the previous ones. More Percy and Nico bonding, yay! And a little Silena at the end(:**_

_**So…I don't really have anything else much to say…So, enjoy the chapter! **_

_**Note: Sorry for any kind of mistakes! I do not have an editor/beta reader, so this fanfic isn't perfect in terms of grammar, punctuation, etc. I am all on my own on this fanfic…how sad.**_

_**Warning: Language, child abuse, death, bullying (I'll add more along the way) **_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. I am definitely not Rick Riordan. Also, I got the "Hades abuses Nico" idea from some fanfic…though which fanfic I got it from I don't remember. Ciao!**_

* * *

**The Violin That Started it All**

**Author: Loving Healer**

******Part One: Nico di Angelo**

**Chapter Nine**

* * *

"You did?!" Percy exclaimed. I only looked shocked at Sally's sentence.

Sally nodded. "I was looking through the attic, since there might be some clues here."

"You are very ambitious, Sally," I remarked.

Sally smiled at me, finally taking her eyes off the page. "I am indeed, Nico. When I have an unanswered question, I will always investigate. I am a curious one, and I would love all of my problems solved before I pass away. Better to do it when I can actually move around normally, right?" She chuckled. "I am not looking forward to the day when I have to walk around with a cane or something like that."

"Wow," was my only comment.

"But anyway," Percy began, "why does 'di Angelo' sound familiar, Mom?"

Sally ushered us down next to her. "Look here at this picture."

We both knelt down next to her and glanced at the picture. It was a large picture that took up the whole page, so the picture was placed sideways to fit. Everyone in the picture was smiling straight at the photographer, and they seemed to be at a park, a very familiar park to me. The more I stared at the picture, the more I came to realize that the park was Miles Square Park, the place where I went to play my violin in peace. The picture was of two families, since some of the people in the picture did not look related at all. One of the families I guessed were Percy's family, but the other was…a family that I wasn't sure was possible.

"Is that…" I started, but my voice failed me.

"Who are they?" Percy asked, pointing at three figures in the photo. "I don't remember seeing..."Percy stopped.

Sally glanced at me, then Percy, then back at the sideways photo. "Do you guys know who those people are?"

I silently nodded. "But, why are they in this picture with you guys? And, where am I?"

"Wait a second," Percy started, grabbing Sally's and my attention, "I only know one of these people, but, who are the others?" Percy circled the man with his finger that was none other than my father.

"The other two…" I trailed off. I didn't really want to talk about them, even if I was just answering a simple question. But, seeing them again, even if it was just a photo, made me want to hug it and treasure the picture dearly. I always yearned to see them again, but I never thought I would see them again in a photograph in Percy's attic.

Percy seemed to take the hint at my expression. He glanced back at the picture, his gaze now fixed on the other two figures. "Are they…" he was hesitant, but he continued "…your mom and your sister, Bianca?" I only nodded quietly. Percy got up and walked around his mother, only to kneel down beside me and hug me for comfort. I wanted to swat him away, but I didn't really want to do that in front of his mother.

Sally glanced at us. "I remember now. Before you were born, Percy and Bianca were neighbors, and also best friends. Your mom in this picture is already pregnant with you. That's why 'di Angelo' sounds familiar. You were neighbors and friends with Bianca di Angelo when you were very young. I used to always talk with Hades and Maria di Angelo with your dad, Percy."

"Was it…your real dad?" I directed at Percy.

"Yeah." Percy exhaled through his mouth. "That seems like so long ago."

"But, wait," I began, "why was I born in Maine if you guys are in New York in this picture?"

Sally sighed, preparing herself to tell a story. "Maria told me that she wanted to move somewhere quieter when she had her second child. So, before you were born, Nico, they moved to Maine. That's why you were born there, not here. Bianca, as far as I know, was born here, in New York. She was such a lovely child. Do your parents know you hang out with Percy? I would love to see them again."

"Mom—" Percy started, knowing that I did not like the upcoming topic.

I held my hand up, silencing Percy. "It's okay, Percy. Sally, well, my mother and Bianca passed away in Maine because of a car accident. That's when my father and I moved back here to New York, but I still don't know why."

I found out where Percy got that look of forlorn from: from his mother. She glanced down at the picture, her gaze on Bianca and my mother. Then she glanced at me. "I'm…really sorry to hear that, Nico. Is your father alright?"

I nodded, though it was an obvious lie. "He's fine. We're getting along well, trying to get over their deaths."

I didn't spar a glance at Percy, but I knew he was staring at me with a bewildered and angry expression for lying, yet his arms were still wrapped around me. "Nico…that's such a—"

"I know. I'll talk to you later about it."

Sally glanced at Percy and me, but she decided to not make a comment about it. "Well, Nico, I'm glad you guys are getting along. But, why are you staying here with us?"

I decided to make up another lie for that. I really needed to get out of this situation. "My father needs a lot of time for himself, you know, he has to deal with their deaths _and_ work. And, whenever I see him, he always reminds me of them, so I decided to stay somewhere else for the time being. Is that…alright?"

Sally patted my cheek. "It's absolutely fine, Nico. Dealing with a death of a loved one is very challenging, I know it too. My parents died a long time ago in a plane crash. But, I'm just glad your father is still with you."

I nodded getting up. Percy still followed, and his arms were still around me. "Thanks you, Sally. I'm…just going to go now."

Sally nodded, closing the photograph book and setting it in the open box where she found it. "I'm going to head out too. It is way too dusty in here."

She closed the box and followed us outside and down the ladder that led up to the attic. Sally lifted the ladder up until it closed at the top, so it just looked like a regular ceiling.

Sally glanced at us. "I'm going to be downstairs if you guys need me, okay?"

Percy and I both nodded as Sally left down the hall and into the direction of the stairs.

Percy lifted my chin up with his hand and directed my face towards his, which was next to mine. His arms were _still_ wrapped around me. "Why did you lie?"

I sighed. "I didn't want another person to worry about me. I would rather have your mother go about her life without another worry. She seems so happy; I don't want to pile all of my problems onto her. She has enough to worry about, with her parents gone as well."

"You know, she could help you if you just told her."

I shook my head in denial. "I don't need any more help. You've already done so much for me on your own. I still don't know how to repay you back."

It was now Percy's turn to sigh. "You don't need to repay me back. The only way you can return the favor is by continuing to be friends with me. That's all I need."

"But that's—"

"Enough for me." Percy smiled, finished my retort with something I didn't want to say.

"You are so hopeless, Percy."

Percy's smile turned into a smirk. "I know, Nico. Come on, we were going to hang out, right? It's Friday after all."

I nodded, his hand still holding up my chin. "Alright."

* * *

We were in the middle of walking down the stairs when Percy's phone rang. Percy glanced at me, but reached into his pocket to pull out his phone and answer the call. "Hello?" Percy said into the speaker, staring off straight ahead of him. The person on the other side of the phone said something, and then Percy replied, "Sorry, Silena. I was actually going to hang out alone with Nico today." Silena said something again, but instead of answering her, Percy glanced at me, taking the phone off his ear. "Silena was wondering if you wanted to come with her to hang out with Annabeth, Piper, Jason, Leo, Hazel, Frank, and Beckendorf."

My lips tilted downward. "I don't really like being around a lot of people. So, tell her sorry, but no. You could go if you want."

Percy stared at me with a sad look. "Then what would you do?"

I shrugged. "What I always do when I'm bored at home. I usually watch TV, or I might go to the park and play my violin. Either way, it doesn't matter. I'll find something to do."

Percy smiled back at me. "If you're not going, then me going is not an option." He put the phone back onto his ear, ignoring my confused look I was giving him. "We're not going, sorry, Silena." Silena said something on the other side of the phone. Then Percy glanced at me. "Silena was wondering if she could hang out with us then. She wants to spend more time with you."

I shrugged. "If she wants to. But I don't want to hang out with everyone."

Percy smiled and answered Silena, "He says it's fine. Does that mean you're just going to ditch everyone then?" Silena answered with something that I couldn't make out. But Percy only continued to smile. "Alright then, see you later." And he hung up his phone.

By this time, I was still giving him a confused look. "Why didn't you just go with them?"

Percy glanced at me, as if suddenly realizing I was still standing there. "If you're not going, then I'm not going."

"You could've just gone without me."

Percy frowned. "Then where's the fun in that?"

I sighed. "You lived your whole life without me, I'm pretty sure you can also live a day without me. Why do you want to go everywhere with me anyway?"

"Because you're my best friend," Percy replied like it was super obvious.

"Then, who was your best friend before you met me? Why don't you just go hang out with him or her?"

"Well," Percy drawled, "my best friend was a guy named Grover, but we went to different high schools, so I don't talk to him much anymore. Then it was Annabeth, but we started dating a few months ago."

"Then why don't you just hang out with Annabeth?" I asked him.

"Because _you're_ my best friend now," Percy answered. "Now, enough with the questions, let's just go and meet Silena at the park." Percy began walking towards the front door.

I rolled my eyes and sighed, but followed him. "Fine, but you're going to regret not hanging out with the others."

Percy smiled at me. "If it involves you, then I'm never going to regret anything."

I frowned. "You're going to regret that sentence once you find out my secret."

Percy stopped and stared back at me. "You have another secret?"

I rubbed my forearm with my left hand. "Well, yeah. It's…related to why I hate human contact from you."

Percy knit his eyebrows at me. "Is it because you're gay? Because I already know that."

I shook my head. "I already know you know that. But, me being gay is kind of related to my secret."

Percy sighed. "You're so confusing, Nico. Are you ever planning on telling me this 'secret'?"

I shook my head once again. "No, I'm…not. I'm really sorry though. But, I'm just…afraid."

Percy's lips tilted downward. "Afraid of what? Afraid of my opinion? I'm not going to judge you or anything. You already told me about your past life that you refused to tell anyone. I don't think there's anything else that could be worse."

I gulped. "Well, to me there is." I suddenly found interest in my worn-out shoes.

Percy sighed once more. "Look, if you don't want to talk about it, then I won't force you or anything. I'll wait until you're ready to tell me. But, we should hurry and get to Silena. I have the strangest feeling she's already there, and she's currently waiting for us."

I glanced up at him and nodded. "You're probably right. Let's go."

* * *

We decided to walk to the park, since it was close to Percy's house anyway. When we arrived at Miles Square Park, the breath in my lungs was knocked right out of me. In other words, Silena hugged me. Percy was trying to contain his laughter at my reactions as I stumbled backwards, trying to contain my balanced for the second time of the day.

"Nico!" Silena squealed.

I rolled my eyes and hugged her back. "You saw me earlier today. You overreact way too much."

"I do not!" Silena retorted.

"Yes you do," Percy and I replied.

Silena pouted and released her arms around me. "Whatever. But, what do you guys want to do today?

I shrugged. "What do you guys want to do today? I don't really care. I never go out much anyway."

Silena gasped. "You don't?! Does that mean you don't even know what the malls or the other parks or anything looks like?!"

I shook my head. "No," I flatly replied. "I only go here, my house, and the library only because I work there. Sometimes I go to the bookstore to buy new books, but those are the only places I go to."

Silena sighed. "Nico, Nico, Nico. You are absolutely unbelievable."

Percy smirked. "That's what I tell him all the time."

"I know right!" Silena agreed. "Well, Percy, looks like we have a _lot_ to do today."

I raised an eyebrow. "And…what exactly are we doing today?" I glanced at Percy and Silena.

Percy chuckled. "Well, Nico, you're in for a lot. When Silena has a plan, that means we are going to be out the whole rest of the day, and come home super exhausted."

Silena cocked her head to the side. "Really? I don't get very exhausted."

"That's because you have a bunch of energy throughout the whole day," Percy responded.

Silena giggled and bounced on the heels of her feet. "That's is true. And, you know what I'm planning for today?"

I was hesitant, but I asked, "What are we doing today?"

Silena grinned broadly at me. "We're going to go to all the places I _love_ to be at! And don't worry, everything's on me. Percy can buy some of the things."

Percy rolled his eyes. "Fine, whatever. You are being treated royalty today, Nico."

I chuckled, but of course, it disappeared right after. I rolled my eyes so that Silena wouldn't get suspicious about it. But, I already knew what Percy was thinking.

Silena seemed to have let it slide, to my relief. She giggled. "Alright-y then! First, I'm planning on going to the ice cream store! I am pretty hungry right now anyway. How about it, guys?"

I shrugged, and Percy replied, "Sure."

Silena grinned at us again, before taking Percy's wrist in one hand, and my wrist in the other. She dragged us toward her car, which was a white Mercedes. She opened the front seat and jumped into it. Percy offered for me to sit in the passenger seat, but I denied, and decided to sit in the back seat. Percy only shrugged and sat in the seat next to the driver's seat, which was Silena's seat.

She inserted the key into the keyhole and turned it to the side, cranking up the car's engine. "Okay, guys! Buckle up, and let's go!"


	11. Chapter 10

_**Author's Note: Sorry sorry sorry! I know there wasn't an update yesterday and I'm really sorry about that! Pokémon Y is too distracting for me. I'll try to make it up by posting two updates today or tomorrow! How does that sound? I don't think I'll be able to finish the second update today, so I'll finish it up and post it tomorrow. Then, I'll type up another chapter tomorrow and post it.**_

_**And, these next few chapters will focus on Nico and Percy bonding…sometimes with Silena too but it's mostly focused between them. It's relevant for an upcoming event, so I just need some bonding between them. I hope you guys don't get bored…I'll try to not make them boring. I skipped most of them hanging out and just described it since I didn't want to describe every single place they went to and what they did. That would just take way too long.**_

_**Well, I think that's all I have to say. So, happy reading! **_

_**Note: Sorry for any kind of mistakes! I do not have an editor/beta reader, so this fanfic isn't perfect in terms of grammar, punctuation, etc. I am all on my own on this fanfic…how sad.**_

_**Warning: Language, child abuse, death, bullying (I'll add more along the way) **_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. I am definitely not Rick Riordan. Also, I got the "Hades abuses Nico" idea from some fanfic…though which fanfic I got it from I don't remember. Also, the mall that is described in this chapter is actually a real mall, not from my imagination. The mall is called Irvine Spectrum. Ciao!**_

* * *

**The Violin That Started it All**

**Author: Loving Healer**

******Part One: Nico di Angelo**

**Chapter Ten**

* * *

Silena wasn't kidding when she said she would take us to all her favorite places. I was also informed by Percy later in the day that her favorite places were _all_ the stores in a nearby mall. Well, that's just wonderful.

We were sitting at a table in an ice cream store. I totally forgot what the name of the ice cream store was because we were in here for so long, mostly because Silena was talking the day away in here, and because she kept trying to get me to eat ice cream. I wasn't a fan ice cream, but Silena would not budge. I wasn't a big fan of sweets actually, which eventually made our next destination to be See's Candies. I wonder if we were actually going to get there; we've been in this ice cream store for an hour and a half so far. I wouldn't be surprised if we stayed here the rest of the day.

The ice cream store was pretty small, with the tables and chairs on one side of the store where all the windows were. The counter was on the opposite side of the store, which also had the showcases of ice cream in buckets, with the name of that particular ice cream on the glass. Cakes were aligned on shelves in the back. The store was mostly white, and so were the tables. The chairs were brown instead.

"Nico! Just eat some!" Silena whined, trying to shove a spoonful of cookie dough into my mouth.

I attempted to shove her hand away. "No! Why are you forcing me to eat some anyway?!"

"Because you're missing out on life!" Silena answered.

"Eating cookie dough is not part of my life!" I retorted.

"Yes it is!"

"Guys," Percy interrupted, "do you guys know how loud you guys are?"

"Well, it's Nico's fault he's not eating ice cream!" Silena retorted.

I rolled my eyes. "Well, I don't want any. So, can we just leave now? We've been here for two hours or something."

"Seriously?!" Silena gasped. "I didn't even know."

"It's like that _all_ the time, Silena." Percy chuckled.

"Oh." Silena blinked blankly at us. "Well, my goal for the rest of my life is to get Nico to eat some sweets. Let's go to See's Candies!"

I rolled my eyes once more. "I'm not going to eat sweets if I'm forced to."

Silena shrugged. "I'll get you to eat them one day."

"Wait, you just ate a ton of ice cream, so now you're going to eat more?" Percy raised an eyebrow at Silena.

Silena only grinned and nodded. Percy sighed as Silena dragged him away by the wrist. I only shrugged and followed them. I can't believe that my first friends were the popular group at school. It seemed totally unbelievable. If someone told me that I would be friends with my secret lover and his friends. I would've laughed.

Silena then led us to a store called American Apparel. It wasn't a very big store, but there were a lot of clothes in there. She dragged us along and we had to judge whether or not the clothing Silena picked out looked good on her. She even offered to get me clothes, which I denied rather quickly. Percy only laughed at my rapid reply.

We then went to this one area where there was a stage and people would sing or dance on it. We watched them for awhile, maybe an hour and a half or so, until we got bored. Then Silena dragged us somewhere else, of course.

The next place we went to was apparently See's Candies. Silena, once again, tried to force feed me sweets, and of course I denied. Percy was trying to hold in his laughter while it happened, and he tried to focus on something else whenever Silena complained to him that I was "missing out on life by not eating sweets". The people in the store stared at us as if we were from a different planet. I would've done that too if I was in that store and didn't know them.

We even went to watch a movie. It happened when we were in a store called Pacsun and Silena mentioned movies that she liked to watch since she happened to come across a shirt with one of her favorite movies on it. When she asked me what my favorite movie was, I only shrugged and said I haven't watched a movie since I was ten. Silena gasped at my response, marched up to the cashier, paid for her items, and then dragged me to the movie theatre called Edwards 21 Cinemas. We ended up watching this movie called Frozen, and apparently Silena has watched this movie many times, and never gotten tired of it.

When Silena asked when my birthday was when we were in a store called SALVATION, I answered that my birthday was January 29. Silena started going crazy because the date was January 21, and she ended up trying to buy something for me. I told her she didn't have to, but she wouldn't listen. Sometimes Silena would whisper to Percy, and it was most likely about what my birthday present would be. I ended up giving up and letting Silena buy whatever she wanted for me.

When we ended up at a store called Kay Jewelers, Percy and Silena forced me to wait outside for them, so I was pretty sure my birthday present had something to do with jewelry. I really wondered what they were getting me. Why did they think I would want jewelry for my birthday? Did I look like the type that would where jewelry? Most people strike me for the Emo type, and I was pretty positive they thought the same thing about me. Well, if Silena and Percy agreed on it, then I guess I might like it. Well, I've only known them for four days, so it would make sense that they wouldn't know what I like. Whatever, I'll find out soon on my birthday, so I might as well not dwell about it. But, I had a lot of time to think about it, since I waited out there for three hours and a half. When they came out afterwards, Silena was holding a Kay Jewelers bag. I kept eyeing the bag wherever we went like there was a loaded gun hidden in there.

We went on like that for the whole entire day, until my feet started to feel sore. I didn't complain about it, since I wasn't one to complain, but Percy showed signs to Silena that we should get going home. Silena wouldn't budge though, since we haven't finished visiting every single one of her favorite stores. That's when Percy brought up that Silena's favorite stores were _every single store_ at the mall, which made me join Percy and get Silena to finally let us go home. We even started to form a plan to ditch Silena when she was waiting for her order at a place called Starbucks Coffee. We never finished the plan though, because Silena ended up getting her order faster than we predicted.

When it was around nine o'clock, Silena wanted to go on the giant Ferris wheel that was in the middle of the outdoor mall. She wanted to go on it earlier, but she said the view from the Ferris wheel looked cooler when it was nighttime, since the Ferris wheel glowed and changed patterns and colors at night. We stared out of the Ferris wheel cart, and Silena gaped at every single thing. She pointed out some stores that we forgot to visit, and even took a picture of all of us together when we were at the very top of the Ferris wheel. I refused to do so, and ended up getting shoved into the picture by Percy.

When we came to a store called Forever 21, I pleaded Percy to let me look into the Kay Jewelers bag. I wanted to see what they got me, even if I didn't want it, and it was killing me. Maybe I did actually want it if I wanted to see it. I begged him to show me for awhile, and it actually worked. He took out a black box that was used to hold jewelry, but before he was about to open it, Silena came and slapped Percy's hand, which almost made Percy drop it. She then scolded Percy for the longest time about it, but all I could do was try to not laugh at how Percy was handling the situation.

When it was nine thirty, we finally settled down outside on a bench by a store called Wetzel's Pretzels. Percy and I sat on either side of Silena, who was sitting in between us, thankfully. I probably would've exploded if I sat too close to my secret lover. Silena just wanted a way to sit with us while having the ability to talk to both of us at the same time. So, she seated herself in the middle.

Silena was eating a soft, but giant pretzel from Wetzel's Pretzels about the size of two hands put next to each other. I never understood where Silena got her giant appetite from. She ate so much, yet she was still slim. It must be some kind of sorcery or something. She shared some with Percy and me, and for the one of the first times today, I accepted. I haven't eaten a lot today, especially since I lost my appetite when Silena tried to force me into eating sweets.

A few minutes later, a couple of people walked up to us. When we all looked up, we found Annabeth, Jason, Leo, Piper, Hazel, Frank, and Beckendorf.

"Charlie!" Silena squealed, jumping up and hugging Beckendorf around the neck, with the giant pretzel still in her dominant hand.

"Hey, Silena." Beckendorf grinned and hugged Silena around the waist.

"I didn't know you guys would be here. If we knew that, we would've gone with you," Hazel said, glancing from Beckendorf and Silena to Percy and me.

"I know right!" Leo agreed. "We could've had a huge party!"

"But, there's only ten of us," Frank pointed out. "That isn't really considered to be 'huge'."

Leo sighed. "You just have to ruin everything, huh, Frankie?"

Frank put on a disgusted expression. "Please don't call me that."

Leo smirked and chuckled. "Too late."

Everyone ended up talking about something, but I wasn't really listening. In fact, I was feeling very uncomfortable around so many people, so I decided to sneak away while no one noticed. I wasn't sure where I was going to go. Maybe I would just walk around until Silena called me and brought Percy and me home. I just hoped they wouldn't get mad at me for ditching them without them noticing. Would they even get mad? I just hoped—for the first time—that they wouldn't forget about me. I just hoped they wouldn't because they were my ride home. Other than that, I didn't really care whether or not they forget about me.

I got up from my seat on the bench and quietly walked away from the group, shoving my hands deep into my pockets. I decided to just look around at the different stores that I haven't seen yet. I didn't go out much, so I might as well look at everything. I wasn't planning on buying anything either. After my mother and Bianca died, I never really got anything. My father never went out and gotten a present for me on Christmas for my birthday, and I ended up getting used to that. I almost forgot my own birthday too. When Silena asked me when my birthday was earlier, it took me about three minutes to think about that.

It was cold, practically freezing outside. I forgot to bring a jacket, so here I was freezing to death while walking around. I should just go into a store I found interesting and stay in there looking at all the stuff because there were heaters inside the stores. I would've done that, but I got bored too easily. Nothing ever kept me entertained. I didn't think I ever will find anything that'll keep me entertained for more than an hour or so.

I actually succeeded in getting away, which I found weird and suspicious because luck is never on my side. I looked back at the group and no one was watching me still. I raised an eyebrow at nothing in particular, and continued to walk to no set destination, looking around at the stores I passed by to see if anything caught my eye. And, in fact, nothing caught my eye. Nothing has ever been interesting to me for five years so far, well, except for Percy. I'm surprised I didn't freak out over becoming friends with Percy. Maybe because I was never alone with him, and whenever I was, we were always talking about something serious, so I wasn't able to focus on my loving feelings for him.

I also realized I smelled like perfume because Silena kept spraying Percy and me with perfume at a store called Perfume Gallery. I hated the smell of perfume; it was too strong. People would always spray way too much on them, and whenever I walked by a person wearing perfume, it was like a brief headache before I finally passed by them. But since the perfume was on _me_ now, my headache was going to last longer than usual. Well that's great. I was freezing cold and I had a headache.

Of course, my luck didn't last very long. I felt someone grab my right forearm, and for a second I thought someone was going to kidnap me. I stopped in my tracks and turned around, only to find my secret lover.

"Why did you leave?" was the first thing Percy asked me.

I simply replied with a shrug, taking my right hand out of my pocket and shaking Percy's hand away. I wasn't making eye contact with Percy either, so he most likely knew that I was lying.

Percy sighed. "You obviously know why you left."

"I already told you earlier today, I don't like being around a lot of people," I said, shifting my gaze towards a store behind Percy labeled Cathy Jean Shoes.

"Then you could've just told us you were leaving instead of sneaking off," Percy said.

I shrugged. "I didn't think you guys would care. So, I didn't say anything."

Percy frowned at me. "Nico, Silena would freak out once she realized you were gone. She would probably go crazy and think you were kidnapped by someone."

I finally made eye contact with Percy, but with an eyebrow raised. "You didn't tell them you were going to find me?"

"Well, I didn't think you wanted me to tell them you were gone," Percy answered, rubbing his forearm. He was lucky he was wearing a jacket.

"So, you actually succeeded in sneaking off?" I asked, a little surprised.

"You succeeded in sneaking off," Percy pointed out,

"Well, no one was talking to me or paying attention to me, so of course I was able to sneak away. You, on the other hand, were talking to Jason when I left," I remarked.

Percy rubbed the back of his neck with a small smile. "I actually lied and told them I needed to go to the bathroom."

I rolled my eyes. "I can't believe they fell for that. The bathroom is the other way."

Percy chuckled. "Even I didn't know that, yet you've only been here once."

I shrugged once again. "I guess have a good memory."

Percy smiled, then looked at me up and down. "You look cold."

"No fucking way," I slowly replied.

Percy rolled his eyes. He took off his jacket and put it around my shoulders. The whole time, I was staring at me with a puzzled look across my face.

"Aren't you cold?" I asked him, starting to take off the jacket and give it back to him.

Percy shook his head. "Only a little, but I can handle it." Percy took my hands into his and pulled them away from the jacket, releasing my grip on the jacket so I wouldn't take it off. "You seem colder anyway."

I frowned. "Yeah, I get cold too easily, and I hate it."

"You hate too many things about yourself, Nico," Percy pointed out, his hands still holding on to mine. I hoped that it was dark enough so he wouldn't see the blush slowly spreading across my face. "Try to have some more self-esteem."

I rolled my eyes. "I have none of that. I don't see anything good or unique about me."

Percy sighed heavily, as if to say: _What am I going to do with you?_ "Then, I'll help you see the good things about you."

I arched an eyebrow. "And, how are you going to do that?"

Percy genuinely smiled down at me. "You'll see along the way."

My expression turned quizzical the more I stared at him, but I didn't ask anything more. I decided to ask something else. "So, are you going to take me back to the others now?"

Percy shook his head. "If I take you back, then you're probably going to sneak off again."

I nodded. "Very true. So, now that you found me, are _you_ going to go back? I mean, no one goes to the bathroom this long."

Percy laughed, making my heart beat faster against my chest. "I'll just let them have their own imagination about what I'm doing in the bathroom for such a long time." He winked at me.

"Ew, that's very disgusting, Percy." My quizzical expression turned disgusted. "Don't get an image in my head." But to be truthful, an image of Percy jerking off just made me more aroused. And, Percy holding my hands was not making me feel any better.

Percy smirked. "Well, anyway. What do you want to do now?"

I blankly blinked at him. "Wait, you're seriously not going back to them?"

Percy knit his eyebrows. "Well, of course not. I'm not going to leave you alone. After everything that happened five years ago, I'm not leaving you alone ever again. You looked so lonely when I caught you leaving, it made me really sad. You know, when you turned around and found me, there was this empty look in your eyes like you've never seen a human being before in your life."

"Seriously?"

Percy nodded. "Yeah. It just—you know what, never mind." I raised an eyebrow, but he brushed me off. "So, what did you even plan on doing?"

I shrugged. "I didn't really know what to do, since I can't go home. So, I just decided to walk around and look at the stores that we haven't visited, since I don't go out very much."

Percy smiled again. "Then, let's go look around. I've been here a lot actually, so I know my way around. You coming?"

I rolled my eyes. "Even if I said no, you would still force me into coming."

Percy's smile turned into a smirk. "Well, of course I would. Then, I guess we should be going now."

Percy swung his arm around me, finally letting go of my hands, and we walked around the outdoor mall until Silena called me and started freaking out over where I was.


	12. Chapter 11

_**Author's Note: I have a question for you guys: should this fanfic's genre be Hurt/Comfort with Romance (romance will come in later), or should it be Friendship with Romance? I can't really decide, so I decided to ask you guys for your opinions and see.**_

_**This chapter was so hard for me to write, I don't even know why. I just wasn't in the mood for writing, and whenever I tried, I blanked out on ideas. So, I hope this chapter isn't too bad. I kind of forced myself to write, since I had absolutely nothing to do, other than play Pokémon Y, read The Red Pyramid, and play Super Smash Bros. Brawl with my brother, though he is currently playing Minecraft with his friend, so I guess SSBB is off my list of things to do. But I beat Pokémon Y and I am taking a break from reading (I read way too much, my mom even scolds me sometimes for it because I read too late at night), so, I am now typing.**_

_**I am one update behind for this fanfic, which makes me very depressed. Stupid Pokémon Y, why do you have to do this to me? I'll catch up today, that's my plan. **_

_**I actually type my chapters faster now, since I decided to not pull up FF while I'm typing the chapter, because I get carried away when the internet is pulled up. I end up clicking the internet button and pulling up Tumblr, which can distract me for hours.**_

_**I realized that I don't show Nico's feelings for Percy enough. So, I think I'm going to type that in more.**_

_**I'm not even sure how long this fanfic will be. I never made an outline for this fanfic, but I planned out the plot in my head, so I don't think I would waste my time making an outline if it's all in my head. I know the outline helps greatly when writing, but I never write one. I just type the chapter and see where it goes. Because, the more I type, the more new and better ideas come into my mind. **_

_**Also, fun fact: when Nico mentions that Percy sounds like a manager, I was referring to a Percico/Pernico fanfic that I'm currently reading called Children of Loss by XTheSonofHadesX, since Percy **_**is ****_a manager in that fanfic. I really enjoy that fanfic, you guys should read it too. Though, it is SUPER long._**

_**And, another fun fact: when Paul is mentioned reading a book called The Fire Ascending, that happened to be a book from one of my favorite series called The Last Dragon Chronicles. I think it was really good, but it was also a little confusing, which is why Percy Jackson is my favorite series. Maybe Harry Potter and **__**The **__**Kane Chr**__**onicles is in there somewhere. I don't remember the Harry Potter series though; I read that series in 4th grade. Wow, that seems so long ago.**_

_**By the way, the food for their lunch is not described because I couldn't really think of anything…..just remember that there is food on the table.**_

_**But anyway, I don't think you guys care about how I type my chapters and what my favorite book series are. This chapter also has more Nico and Percy bonding. Hurray for Nico!**_

_**And, Noizmaker21 you have made my day with your review. I seriously did not think the personalities in this fanfic were even close to Rick Riordan's personalities in the real books. I sort of act like a mixture of Leo, Nico, and Percy, so they're probably the easiest for me to write. Silena acts like one of my friends, so she's a bit easy to write as well. Everyone else…not so much (I thought Jason and Piper were pretty horrible). But, thank you so much anyway!**_

_**So, happy reading! Hope you enjoy the chapter! **_

_**Note: Sorry for any kind of mistakes! I do not have an editor/beta reader, so this fanfic isn't perfect in terms of grammar, punctuation, etc. I am all on my own on this fanfic…how sad.**_

_**Warning: Language, child abuse, death, bullying (I'll add more along the way.) **_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. I am definitely not Rick Riordan. Also, I got the "Hades abuses Nico" idea from some fanfic…though which fanfic I got it from I don't remember. Ciao!**_

* * *

**The Violin That Started it All**

**Author: Loving Healer**

******Part One: Nico di Angelo**

**Chapter Eleven**

* * *

It was the next day: Saturday. I still wasn't awake by the time it was one in the afternoon. I stayed up all night thinking about everything that happened yesterday at the mall. Well, to be more specific, I was thinking about Percy. The way he laughed and smiled. The way his emerald green eyes twinkled whenever he found something amusing. And, the way his tender hands held mine when he gave me his jacket. Why did Percy have to be so perfect?

Silena freaked out when she found out that I moved in with Percy when she was driving us home. She asked me where I lived so she could drop me off, but Percy answered for me, saying that I moved in with him. She was freaking out over it so much; she didn't get the chance to ask us why I moved in with Percy in the first place. I didn't know why she made such a big deal out of it. I mean, yeah I moved in with Percy. Why was this so exciting to her?

I usually slept until it was three on the weekends, but Percy had other plans. When it was one, Percy knocked on my door. I was a light sleeper, which I also hated, because I loved sleeping. I half-opened my eyes and glanced (more like glared) at the door, but I didn't show any indication that I was awake. So, Percy continued to knock on the door. It reminded me of an alarm clock, that kept ringing and ringing until you hit the snooze button. But this time, there wasn't a snooze button.

When I was about to call out to the door and say I was awake, Percy decided to step in. He glanced at me and chuckled. He walked up to my bed and knelt down next to the bed.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty." He laughed.

"More like 'Good afternoon, Sleeping Ugly'," I grumbled, turning around and attempting to fall back asleep. "I have decided to skip lunch so I could get more sleep. Now, go away."

Percy rolled his eyes. "You really hate yourself, don't you Nico?"

If my eyelids weren't closed, I would've rolled my eyes as well. "Gee, I haven't noticed."

Percy sighed. "Well, you have to wake up now. My mom wouldn't like it if you missed lunch. This is your first lunch with us anyway. And anyway, we have to paint your room black. You don't want to sleep in such a blue room, do you?"

"Not really." I sighed, finally sitting upright in my new and comfortable bed. "I feel like I'm going to be asked a ton of questions at lunch."

Percy smirked. "That is so true. Now, hurry up and brush your teeth and your hair. It's going to take us all day to paint your room."

I groaned. "You sound more like a manager or something. You would do so well as one."

Percy chuckled. "Maybe I would." Percy stood up to his full height. "You really aren't an early bird, are you?"

"Is it that obvious?" I sarcastically asked.

Percy only rolled his eyes. "You are so sarcastic."

"Wow, haven't noticed that either." I rolled my eyes back. "By the way, why is everything so blue in this house? I feel like I'm going to see the rest of the world in blue if I stay here too long."

Percy chuckled once more. "Well, when my first step-dad was here, he said there was no such thing as blue food. So, my mom when all out and cooked everything in blue just to show my first step-dad that he was wrong. She ended up going overboard and she made everything in this house as blue as possible, but not too much blue or we would've gotten dizzy from it all. "

"Wow, you really hated that guy," I commented.

"Oh, you don't even know the last of it." Percy smiled before making his way out of my new room. "See you downstairs."

After I finished doing my daily morning things in the bathroom (I finally didn't have to take pain-relieving pills in the mornings), I made my way down the stairs. I needed to memorize all the rooms and the layout of this house soon, or I would be lost in here until Percy or someone came by. And, I knew none of the people living in this house were crazy enough to make a map for it.

I arrived in the dining room through a doorway from the kitchen and saw Paul sitting on one end of the table reading a book called The Fire Ascending by Chris d'Lacey. I swear, that guy was reading a new book whenever I saw him. Sally was sitting on the other end on the table across from Paul, happily chatting away with Percy. Percy sat adjacent of his mother, with a huge grin plastered on his face, which also made my heart involuntarily beat faster. There were two empty chairs next to Tyson and Percy. Tyson was sitting across from Percy, who was looking at a deck of cards that I remembered to be a card game that I used to play: Mythomagic. I would've gotten along great with Tyson if I played Mythomagic still. Maybe I could help him and give a few pointers from time to time. I still know how to play that game.

Percy was the first one to notice me. He glanced up at me, interrupting his conversation with Sally. His huge smile was still on his face. "Hey, Nico!" Percy exclaimed, getting everyone's attention over to me.

I shifted uncomfortably under everyone's gaze, which went unnoticed, to my relief. "Hey, Percy."

Sally's face brightened. "Hello, Nico. Would you like to sit next to Percy?"

My heart beat even faster this time. I probably would've spazzed out while sitting next to the person that I secretly loved so much, but it would've been rude if I denied. Instead, I shrugged, trying to ignore the lump forming in my throat. "Sure," I flatly replied.

Percy pulled out the chair next to him, and I seated myself in it. Percy let his arm rest on the top of my chair, and I had to try really hard to ignore it. Percy did not make my feelings for him lessen at all. In fact, he made them grow, which I really hated. I guess I do hate Percy…in one way.

"So, Nico, how do you like it here?" Sally asked me, starting up a conversation,

"It's really great here, thank you for letting me stay," I replied. "It's so lively here. At home, my father is usually working, so he's too busy to do anything. So, it's really quiet at home."

Sally nodded in acknowledgement. "I see. You're dad must be a very busy man, trying to earn enough money for both of you guys."

Paul, without looking up from his book, asked me, "What does your dad do for work?"

Shit, I have never given any thought to that if anyone decided to ask me that. This was one of the reasons why I hated lying. It just led to more stupid lies the more someone asked. So, I guess I had to "wing it" now. "My father works as a…software developer." Percy obviously knew that was a lie. He probably even noticed my pause during the sentence. I didn't even know what a software developer was; all I knew was that they made a lot of money…I think.

Paul nodded. "They make a lot of money, indeed. Does your dad know you're even staying here with us?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I told him I wanted to stay with one of my friends. He's taking it easy on me, since he knows that I'm not over my mother's and my sister's deaths yet."

Paul nodded, his eyes still focused on the words of the page from the book. "That's very reassuring to know."

I could pretty much feel Percy's dark gaze on the back of my head, but I decided to ignore it. But, I knew I was in for a long talk with him later today.

"Hey, Paul," Percy started, "Nico wants to paint the walls of his room black, and I thought that we should do it today. Do you know if we have black paint here?"

Paul bookmarked his page and set the book on the table next to his plate. He got up from his seat to his full height. He made eye contact with Percy. "I'll go check in the garage and see if we have the tools you need."

Percy smiled, so I shifted my gaze elsewhere so I wouldn't blush. "Thanks, Paul."

Paul nodded at Percy before taking his leave. "No problem, Percy."

* * *

After lunch, I went up to my room. "The talk" with Percy was coming, and it wasn't the "use protection during sex and watch where your parts are going" talk. Though, having a talk like that with Percy would be very awkward for me, especially since I was secretly crushing on him.

I was waiting for Percy to come up with Paul with the tools and paint needed to paint my room my black. I had enough of blue around the house; I didn't need more in my room. I was just glad they were so generous to me. My father would never do such a thing anymore. I really missed those times when my whole family was alive and we were all happy together. But now, a half of my family was gone forever, and I hated to think about that. This is why I hated having time to myself. That was the one reason why I hated being alone. My thoughts would somehow lead me towards my mother's and Bianca's death, and I hated it.

"Nico, are you okay?"

I glanced up and found Percy standing by the doorway, holding a large paintbrush in one hand and a thin, metal handle connected to a bucket of black paint in the other.

I frowned at him. "Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

Percy eyed me carefully. "Well, you just looked sort of…how do I explain it? You just look lonely. You look like your heart was shattered into a million pieces, and then stepped on by a person that betrayed you. Your eyes look so dark and empty, like you want to cry, but you can't because you cried too much."

I stared at him with wide eyes. Did I really look that when thinking about their deaths? "R-really?"

Percy nodded. "Yeah. What are you even thinking about?"

I shifted my gaze towards my hands in my lap, and lowered my head so my bangs fell over my face. "I don't really want to talk about it."

"Are you sure? You look like you're thinking about—" Percy abruptly stopped, most likely realizing what I was thinking about. Percy sighed. He walked into my room and set the paint bucket and the paintbrush on the floor. He silently walked over to me, knelt down, and set his hands on my shoulders. "Nico, you're not going to get over…it if you keep thinking about it."

My shoulders slumped. I didn't even realize that they were tensed. "The more I think, the more my thoughts lead to them. It just happens."

Percy smiled, but I barely saw it out of the corner of my eyes. "You'll be okay, don't worry. You're going to get over it soon."

I looked up at him. I didn't know what my expression was, but Percy's eyes became wide, and his grip on my shoulders tightened. I decided to ignore it. "How? How will I get over it if I just keep thinking?"

Percy's smile returned. "Because I'm here to help you with that, Nico. My whole family is here. Which leads me to another point: why did you lie so much to my mom and Paul?"

I sighed as my gaze shifted over to the paint bucket behind Percy. "I already told you. I don't want them to worry about me. I want them to believe that my life was okay. Sally already has enough weight on her shoulders. If I tell her about my problems, she'd be carrying the sky on her shoulders instead."

"But, if you tell her about your problems, then sure she would be carrying the sky. But, she'll also found a way to solve them, so the sky would become lighter…and…sunnier?"

I laughed a rare laugh, and Percy's smile became wider. "Percy, you're such an idiot."

He put his right hand on my cheek and started to caress it once my smile turned into a frown. "I get that a lot." He continued to smile, but worry and concern filled his emerald green eyes. "You look a lot better when you smile, you know."

I shrugged my shoulders. "Maybe I do. I don't really care how I look anymore."

Percy's smile disappeared, which made my heart shatter. "You're really strong, Nico. If I went through what you went through, I probably would've been dead by now."

I rolled my eyes and stood up from my seat on the edge of the bed. "I'm not very strong. I still cry about them at—" I stopped once I realized what I was saying. "You know what? Just forget what I just said."

Percy stood up, and I could feel his eyes on me when I was making my way towards the paint bucket and the paintbrush. "When do you cry about them?" His voice was serious again, and that made me really scared.

I slowly shook my head. "N—nothing."

"You stuttered."

"And you suck."

I could hear Percy chuckle behind me, and I was grateful that he was happy again.

"Well, I still need to get those other paint supplies from Paul in the basement. He's probably waiting for me still," Percy walked over to the doorway. He glanced at me over his shoulder. "You can come down and help me bring up the stuff if you want. I don't really want to see you like that when I came up here ever again. Got that?"

I slowly nodded. I wasn't very sure if I could keep that promise, but if it was for Percy, then I'll try. "Sure, and…thanks."

Percy looked at me curiously. "Thanks for what?"

I suddenly found much interest in the floor. "For not…asking me more about the things that I refuse to tell you. And for…everything that you've done for me so far. I feel like I can never repay you."

Percy smiled and turned around fully, leaning against the door frame. "You don't have to repay me, Nico, I already told you. Being my best friend is enough for me. And, for the things that you refuse to talk about, well, to be honest, I'm really curious as to what you're hiding from me. But, it's okay. I won't force you into it or anything. You'd probably hate me even more if I did."

Now it was my turn to glance up at him curiously. "What do you mean by 'hate you even more'?"

"Well, you hate me, don't you?" Emerald green met with dark brown. "You act like you do, since you push me away all the time. I was actually surprised when you agreed to move in with me. I made a guess to why you hated human contact with me so much, because you hate me."

If I could, I would've laughed at that. But, I didn't want to show my feelings for Percy. My lips tilted downwards instead. "I don't hate you."

Percy stared at me with a bewildered look, like he couldn't believe that he won the lottery or something. "Seriously?

I shook my head. "No, of course I don't hate you. I see you as…a friend…I guess."

Percy grinned at me. "Well, that makes me feel a whole lot better about myself. All this time, I thought you hated me."

I shook my head once more, making my way past Percy and into the hallway. "Well, you were very wrong about that." I glanced back at Percy. "Are we going to go get the supplies from Paul now?"

Percy nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Let's go."

And Percy never knew how untrue his thought about me hating him was. Well, not yet at least.


	13. Chapter 12

_**Author's Note: Sorry that there wasn't an update yesterday! I couldn't upload the chapter into the Doc Manager and I had no idea why. It kept saying that there was an error. So I gave up and waited for the next day. So, sorry about that!**_

_**Also, I am changing the High School name to Thunderway High. I don't know, it sounded cool and I wanted it to be related to Zeus. So, don't get confused when I mention Thunderway High(:**_

_**And, I am still on chapter behind. I'm just going to give up on catching up. It'll never work unless I stop being addicted to Pokémon Y. Which will never happen for quite a while.**_

_**I was looking at my old FF (yes it is still up) from like three years ago and people still liked my fanfics. But, I was such a horrible writer back then the punctuation is just vjgkushcdbzxcul. Maybe I might go back and finish those fanfics. I don't know, they're all uncompleted. And that makes me really sad. The chapter were also really good…just really short.**_

_**I kind of realized I was supposed to put "homosexuality" as one of the warnings…so I guess I'll add it now.**_

_**Wow, I am so tired and I don't even know why. But, I have to finish this chapter for you guys and for the fanfic, so I have a lot of ideas right now, but I'm too tired to type…..but this chapter has been planned out in my head since chapter six, and I'm so happy to finally type it out.**_

_**More Percy and Nico bonding in this chapter! Yay! But, the beginning of this chapter is mostly made up of Nico's thoughts about everything that happened and the people that he's met so far.**_

_**So, I hope you guys enjoy the chapter! **_

_**Note: Sorry for any kind of mistakes! I do not have an editor/beta reader, so this fanfic isn't perfect in terms of grammar, punctuation, etc. I am all on my own on this fanfic…how sad.**_

_**Warning: Homosexuality, language, child abuse, death, bullying (I'll add more along the way.) **_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. I am definitely not Rick Riordan. Also, I got the "Hades abuses Nico" idea from some fanfic…though which fanfic I got it from I don't remember. Ciao!**_

* * *

**The Violin That Started it All**

**Author: Loving Healer**

******Part One: Nico di Angelo**

**Chapter Twelve**

* * *

After we got all the supplies from Paul, he offered to help us move the furniture away from the walls, which we all did. Afterwards, we set some newspapers on the floor by the wall in case the paint would drip off. Paul then bid his farewells, saying that if we needed more help, he'd come to help us.

Percy exhaled through his mouth as we approached the painting supplies in the center of the room. "I guess we should start painting." He plucked a paint roller off of the ground, dipped it in the black paint, and began painting the walls black.

I nodded in agreement, and began to paint the walls using the second paint roller that we brought up. The paintbrushes were for when we had to paint the corners or something and the paint roller couldn't paint there. I was too lazy to paint, but I was getting really tired of all the blue, even though I've only slept in this room twice. I see enough blue around the house to last more than a lifetime.

I was happy Percy was helping me, and I was also happy that Paul offered to help us if we needed it. I was so used to doing things by myself; it was weird and unusual for me to get help. I still refused sympathy from others. I needed to get that drilled into Percy's head. I needed to get that drilled into _everyone's_ head.

Percy could be so persistent though. Silena was also very persistent, especially if it came to sweets. But, I guess, deep down inside, I was grateful to have them with me. I didn't think the others cared about me, they just knew I was there, but they never sparred a thought about me.

But, I was pretty sure Annabeth knew of my feelings for Percy. I knew she was really smart, and her calculating gaze scared me a little. But, I guess she was a nice person to be around with, because Percy was dating her, so she was most likely better…around other people besides me.

Why did I even like Percy? Why couldn't I just get over my feelings already? Percy was straight, and he would never date me. So, why did I always think as if I had a chance? I didn't. I had zero chance with Percy. Percy only thought of me as a friend, nothing more. He wouldn't just suddenly turn gay and end up dating me over Annabeth. And, I was pretty sure Annabeth was a lot better than me, by a long shot.

I wonder though, how did Percy even meet Annabeth? They seem like totally different people, in my opinion. But, Annabeth most likely acted different around other people, so I guess I would never know how Annabeth acted.

I also suddenly realized that Annabeth and Percy would never very intimate in public, unlike Silena and Beckendorf. Well, I had only been with the both of them four times or something like that. So, I guess I could never say anything until it has been awhile. But the question was: would I even be friends with them for awhile?

That question had been stuck in my head ever since I met them. I never thought that I would be friends with them for more than a week, and here I was with Percy after five days. Two more days, and I was pretty sure I would not be friends with them anymore. Well, would I?

I involuntarily shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts, and instead, focused on painting the walls and overlapping the blue with black. Why was I even thinking about this? It made no sense to dwell on them. I really shouldn't have time to myself, or my thoughts would either end up with my mother and Bianca, or to useless thoughts.

And, of course, my thoughts suddenly made a turn towards the Mother and Bianca Boulevard. I really hated this boulevard. It either made me super angry and furious or super sad and depressed. It made no sense, but that was how I felt whenever I thought about them.

And me shaking my head did not go unnoticed by the other person in the room.

"Nico, are you okay?"

I glanced up and looked across the room at Percy. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"Because you were shaking your head for some odd reason," Percy answered, eyeing me curiously over his shoulder.

How did he even know I was shaking my head? Our backs were turned against each other because we were across the room painting the walls opposite of each other. So, how did he even see me?

I just decided to let it slide. "Oh, it was nothing. I was just thinking about some stupid and useless thoughts, that's all."

Percy's lips tilted down, but he shrugged. "Whatever you say, I guess. But, if you want to talk, I'm always here for you."

I nodded. "Alright, thanks."

Percy smiled. "You thank me way too much. I should be thanking you."

I tilted my head to the side. "Thank me for what? I didn't do anything."

Percy sighed. "Well, first off, you let me be your friend. Second off, you told me something that you've never wanted to relive and you refused to tell anybody about it, yet you told me. Thirdly, you actually agreed to move in with me, which I thought impossible whenever I think about it. Fourthly, you actually don't hate me, and you actually think that I'm your friend as well, which is a huge accomplishment for me. Fifthly, every single time we get to spend time with each other always turns out to be the best experiences of my life."

I stared blankly at him. I didn't even know what to reply back. What was I supposed to say? I didn't even know Percy was so thankful about so many things that I just went along with.

Then, I realized something. "Percy, you say every time we spend together is one of your best experiences, right?"

Percy nodded. "Well, yeah, of course. Why?"

"Well, because, right now, we're spending time with each other. And, apparently this is one of the best moments of your life. And all we're doing is painting my wall black."

Percy laughed. "I said it _turns out_ to be one of the best moments of my life."

I still didn't get what he was aiming for. "But, all we're doing is painting the walls black."

Percy sighed, a smile plastered on his handsome and perfectly tanned face. "We started out with painting your walls black. Then, it turns into a nice conversation between you and me. That's why it's one of my favorite moments in my life. I want to know you more, and every talk we have gets me closer and closer to the big mystery that is you. You're such a huge mystery, Nico, even if you don't know it yourself. I am just dying to solve the huge mystery that's your whole life. There are so many missing pieces to the huge puzzle that screams 'Nico'."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "There's a puzzle that screams by name?"

Percy chuckled. "It's a metaphor."

I rolled my eyes. "Percy, I obviously knew that. I was just kidding."

"Wow, I feel really stupid now."

"You are _always_ stupid, Percy."

Percy rolled his eyes, but he was still smiling. "Just get back to painting, Nico."

"You just don't want to hear how stupid you are, don't you?" I smirked at him. "You know, I'm surprised you're dating Annabeth. Isn't she super smart?"

Percy huffed, "I can be smart."

My smirk disappeared, but an eyebrow was raised. "Oh really? Never knew."

And the next thing I knew, there was black paint all over my face. And, there were three places where the paint could've come from: the wall, my paint roller, and Percy's paint roller. I was pretty sure my face didn't run into a wall. I was pretty sure I didn't fling paint at my own face. So, the last option was…

"I'm going to get you back for that, Percy." I glared at him.

Percy was trying to hold in his laughter, which was not working very well. "You wear black all the time. You should just splatter some black paint on your face to match. Your hair is even black to match."

I flung paint from my paint roller towards Percy's face, hitting him on the side of his cheek. "Your hair is black as well, maybe you should join my trend."

Percy rolled his eyes, but a smirk soon came upon his face. "You want to go, huh?"

"Want to go where? To get more black on your face?" I smirked at Percy.

"I am so getting you back for this."

"I would dump the whole bucket of paint on you if the whole floor was covered in newspaper.

"I will shove you against the wall until you're covered in black paint."

"Then let's see you try, Percy."

"Come at me, bro."

I laughed for the second time of the day. "No one says that anymore, Percy."

Percy smiled an amused smile. "Well, I just did." Before I could even react, he flung some more paint onto my clothes.

I looked down at my black T-shirt. "You can't even see the black paint on my shirt."

"Maybe if I put more paint on it, it would become noticeable."

"Is that even possible?"

Percy innocently shrugged. "I don't know. Why don't we find out?"

And I didn't like how this paint job turned out.

Percy dipped his paint roller into a bucket of black paint. I was so mesmerized by how concentrated Percy looked (yes, I know I was stupid), that I didn't even realize that Percy flung a bunch of paint on my shirt and part of my face. I blankly blinked at nothing in particular, and I came back to my senses once I heard Percy laughing.

"You know, I should just throw my paint roller at you." I pushed my bangs out of my face, getting a much clearer view of Percy—a very distracting view of Percy.

Percy evilly smirked. "You should. If you did that, then I would be able to have two paint rollers."

I glanced at the two paint brushes, and Percy followed my gaze. We both glanced at each other, before making a mad dash towards them.

And then I thought of a plan. While he was busy trying to get a paint brush, I rolled the paint roller all over the back of his blue shirt. Then, I decided to roll it in his hair until I was pushed to the ground by Percy.

"You—are—evil." Percy bent over me, pinning my arms above my head with one hand.

I was a squirming mess underneath Percy. First of all, I was pinned underneath the person that I was madly in love with. Second of all, Percy was rolling the paint with his paint roller all over my forehead, my shirt, and my jeans. I tried kicking him in the stomach to get him off, but he stepped on my feet so I wouldn't be able to move. He smirked evilly at me, before going back to paint me instead of the walls. We only had one and a half walls to paint now, and Percy was not making our job go any faster.

"Percy! Get off me!" I yelled at him, trying to kick him in the shin.

"You're not trying to kick me in the shin, are you?" Percy raised an eyebrow at me, but the evil smirk was still plastered on his face. He continued to paint my shirt an even darker black—if that was possible.

I rolled my eyes. "No, of course not. I'm trying to kick you in the _balls_ now."

Percy pouted. "You really are evil."

"Says the one that's on top of me painting my face and the rest of me a different color," I grumbled.

Percy only laughed. "This is very enjoyable, you know."

"I hate you so much, Percy," I huffed while Percy started to paint my forearm.

Percy's evil smile returned. "And now I actually know that you don't mean it anymore. I love you too, Nico."

I rolled my eyes, but really, my heart was pounding so hard in my chest, I was afraid my ribs would break again. Percy directing that sentence to me was enough for me to explode. And, in addition to that, Percy was right over me, pinning my arms over my head so I wouldn't be able to do anything. Why did Percy have to tease me so much, even though he didn't know he was doing it? I bet he did know I liked him, and he was teasing me until I actually confessed to him about my feelings. Like I ever will do that. I'd do it over my dead body.

I had to try really hard to not blush while all of this was happening, especially since Percy was painting my hip now, and it was _really_ close to my erection. I gave up on struggling out of his grasp—it was impossible. Football training really made this guy strong.

"Giving up?" Percy's evil smirk was still intact. "You don't seem like a person to give up."

"I'm just tired of struggling. There's no use anyway." I shrugged as Percy started to paint my leg.

Percy laughed. "Maybe you're just too weak."

"Maybe you're just too strong," I grumbled.

Percy grinned down at me. "Maybe I am."

And that was when the pressure on my foot loosened. And that was also when I took my chance.

My foot slipped right from underneath Percy and I shoved him backwards in his chest using the flat of my foot. Not too hard, of course, or I could've seriously hurt him. I didn't want him hurt after all he's done for me anyway.

Percy fell onto the floor on his behind; his grip that was pinning my arms above my head disappeared.

"I will so get you back for this." My grip on the paint roller tightened as a pushed myself up into an upright sitting position.

Percy smirked. "And, how are you going to do that?"

"Boys! Are you guys done painting the room?"

Percy's and my head whipped towards the direction of the door where Paul was leaning against the door frame.

He examined our clothes, Percy's hair, and my face, and he shook his head with a sigh, but a smile on his face. "You boys are unbelievable."

I sighed as well glancing at Percy. "Go talk to Percy about that."

Paul chuckled at my statement. "You guys have only one wall…and a half of a wall left, so hurry up and paint it so you guys can go and take a shower to wash off all the paint." He sighed once more and slid a hand down his face. "I can't believe I didn't see this coming. Something like this happening should've been predicted easily when it comes to Percy."

I only laughed, while Percy pouted. "Wow, gee, thanks, Paul."

Paul only smiled back as a response. "Just hurry up and paint the last wall and a half."

Percy chuckled and got up from his seat on the ground. He walked over to me and stuck his right hand out, offering to help me up. I stared at it for awhile, because I usually never got help, and this was one of the things that got me curious. But, I only sighed and took the offered hand, while Percy pulled me up from my spot on the ground.

"If you guys need any more help, don't hesitate to come and get me." Paul gave us a kind smile before making his leave down the hall.

Percy flashed a genuine smile at me. "We should start painting the walls as fast as we can, before the paint on us dries."

I nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right."

And we went back to our regular paint job in my new soon-to-be-black room.


	14. Chapter 13

_**Author's Note: I typed this story so fast, I'm so proud of myself! My fingers were typing so fast on the keyboard, and they are so tired now. It usually takes me 2-5 hours making a chapter, but today I had an hour until I had to go to sleep, and I really wanted to finish a chapter and get it up. I went out shopping today with my sister, so I didn't have time to finish the chapter earlier today. I'm so happy I got to actually finish it! I feel so accomplished.**_

_**Thanks for the reviews, guys! I love them, but I really don't want to ask for them, because then I'd feel really needy and stuff, and I really don't want to be seen like that.**_

_**I was reading a new fanfic that I found called "Therapy" though, it's not a Percico/Pernico fanfic. It's a SasuNaru fanfic, and oh my god it's so amazing! I have so many "creative juices" flowing because of that fanfic, and all I want to do is type the rest of the day, despite my headache.**_

_**I also have thought of another Percico/Pernico plot, so I'm going to be typing that fanfic too, though, I'm not sure how long it'll be. But, the POV will be Percy's so it'll be…well…revolving around Percy's life instead! It's an AU by the way. So, you guys can read it if you'd like! **_

_**For this chapter, I skipped the rest of the day on Saturday and so this chapter starts in the afternoon on Sunday. Just to let you guys know, in case you guys get confused.**_

_**Oh, and I also changed the genre from Hurt/Comfort to Friendship. There is still Hurt/Comfort in this fanfic, but I have the feeling that there is more friendship than the other genre. So, I changed it. Should I change it back? I'm not really sure.**_

_**I am so paranoid right now there is a moth near where I am sitting but I have no idea where it is located, so now I have a fly swatter right next to me in case it decides to land on my hand while I'm typing again. **_

_**Well, I'm going have to live through this paranoia and type this chapter before my "creative juices" stop flowing. So, enjoy the chapter! **_

_**Note: Sorry for any kind of mistakes! I do not have an editor/beta reader, so this fanfic isn't perfect in terms of grammar, punctuation, etc. I am all on my own on this fanfic…how sad.**_

_**Warning: Homosexuality, language, child abuse, death, bullying (I'll add more along the way.) **_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. I am definitely not Rick Riordan. Also, I got the "Hades abuses Nico" idea from some fanfic…though which fanfic I got it from I don't remember. Ciao!**_

* * *

**The Violin That Started it All**

**Author: Loving Healer**

******Part One: Nico di Angelo**

**Chapter Thirteen**

* * *

I was as bored as Hell. Wait, could Hell even be boring?

I was in Percy's room on the edge of his blue bed, strumming the strings on my black electric guitar, trying to think of something to do. I didn't know how boring it could be without Percy. He was at football practice, since he had practice every Sunday. He wanted me to go with him, since he didn't want to see me super bored and with that look of forlorn he always described me to have whenever I was alone. I told him to go without me, but he almost managed to drag me away, until I got a phone call from the library right when half of my body was being dragged out of the door.

The phone call was from my boss from the library. She was really nice, and her name was Athena. She was informing me that I haven't been working at the library for about a week now, and she wanted me to come back and help out. I told Percy, but Percy only pouted and told me to "not get lonely" before he left. But when I got there and Athena asked me why I haven't been coming to work, I told her my whole story. She was like my second mother to me, and I loved her. The only thing that shocked me was when she told me that her daughter was Annabeth after my story, and that she strongly despised the idea of me staying with Percy, since she hated him so much. She then told me that it was okay for me to take a break for awhile, but I had no idea what changed her mind.

So, I only obliged and went home. And now all I was doing was strumming the strings on my black as midnight guitar. Why did I feel so bored now? Before all of…_this_ happened, I never got bored, but now I felt as if I could die from boredom. I did the same things I did before all of _this_ happened, but I still felt super bored. Something changed about me, but I couldn't place my finger on it. I didn't feel any different, so why did the activities that made me entertained before made me super bored? Maybe I just got tired of doing those activities, but that still wasn't enough to convince me.

The doorbell rang, and I could hear someone from downstairs go and answer the door. I heard some chatting between the person that answered the door and the person that rang the doorbell, but I didn't really care at the moment. It was probably some neighbor or someone that they knew really well. So, I continued to strum the strings of my guitar.

I was more than surprised when Percy's door swung open to find Sally standing there with a gentle smile on her face, and another person behind her, though who it was I couldn't see.

"Hi?" I awkwardly greeted, not sure how I should've approached this. No one in the Jackson/Blofis household didn't even know I was home. They all thought I went to work at the library when Percy went to go to football practice. I didn't really sneak in when I came home, if that's what you're thinking. Sally was in the back in the garden working on watering the plants when I came in. Tyson was upstairs doing who knows what in his room, and Paul was at work. So, how did Sally know I was in my room?

Oh yeah, I haven't mentioned this to you guys, but yesterday on Saturday after dinner, which was after Percy and I finished painting my walls, I found out that Paul's last name was "Blofis", but everyone else has the surname of Jackson. Well, Sally recently changed her last name to "Blofis", so it was just Percy and Tyson that had the surnames of "Jackson". Since I knew Paul was Percy's step-father, I asked him what his last name was, since I got a bit curious. So, Paul answered that his last name was "Blofis", while Percy laughed and made the ridiculous comment that it sounded just like "Blowfish". I only smacked my forehead and sighed heavily when it happened.

I also forgot to mention why I was in _Percy's_ room at the moment. I was so caught up with being super bored that I forgot to explain everything. Since my walls in my new room were just recently painted, they weren't exactly dry yet. And, I couldn't stay in my room because all the furniture was pushed into the center of the room so the paint could dry. I could go into my room and get some of the stuff that I wanted, but Sally recommended that I shouldn't sleep in my room, since all the furniture was crowded into the center, and it was hard getting access to everything.

Sally's gentle smile grew wider. "Oh, hello. I didn't expect for you to be home. I thought you went to work."

I shrugged, loosening my grip on the guitar pick. "My boss said that I could have a break, and I'm guessing she wanted me to get used to moving in with you guys." I frowned and blinked a couple of times. "Was it okay for me to tell her that I moved in with you?"

Sally only continued to smile. "Of course it is, Nico. You are just like family to us, just remember that."

"Nico?!" I heard the other person behind Sally squeal in delight, and I had one surmise of who it could be.

And, my suspicions were confirmed. Silena jumped from behind Sally and ran towards me, bear-hugging me like she had no problem in breaking my bones. I really needed to get used to her tight hugs, or I would die from most of my bones breaking, or from suffocation.

"S—Silena?" I managed to make out while losing air at the same time. "What are you doing here?"

Silena—thankfully—let go of me. "Percy said he forgot his helmet at his house, and he asked me to go fetch it for him. The cheerleaders are usually there watching the football team practice, so now I'm here getting Percy's helmet. The first thing I asked when I got here was if I could see you!"

Sally lightly chuckled. "She really did."

Silena grinned at me. "I was so depressed when I heard you were at work. But, you're actually here!"

I rolled my eyes. "Percy probably forgot his helmet because he was too busy trying to drag me with him."

Silena's eyes brightened, and I knew that meant she had come up with an idea. "That's perfect! Why don't you come back with me to the field at school and watch them practice?"

I shook my head. "No thanks. I already denied Percy, and my answer still stays the same."

Silena pouted. "That's no fun. You know, I'm going to take you there anyway, right?"

I sighed. "I knew that was going to happen."

Silena smiled widely at me. "Then, let me go get Percy's helmet, and let's go! We can talk so much while we're there!"

Sally came next to Silena and gave her Percy's football helmet. "There you are. Have fun!"

Silena nodded. "Thank you, Sally!" She turned to me, her bright smile still in place, and she grabbed my wrist. "Put your guitar away and let's go!"

I arched an eyebrow. "You know I play the electric guitar already?"

Silena nodded, her grip on my wrist not lessening. "Percy already told me when we were talking earlier today. Now, come on!"

* * *

I didn't know whether I was grateful or ungrateful that I was now on some benches watching the football team practice. I was grateful because I finally had something to do, but I was ungrateful because I was pretty sure I was getting aroused by the way the sweat dripped down Percy's muscular, but lean, frame. And the way his muscles flexed when he threw the football…Okay, I should really turn my attention elsewhere.

Silena was happily chatting with Piper, who sat to her right. I sat to Silena's left, all the way at the edge, just the place I wanted to be. And no, that was not sarcasm. The whole cheerleading team really was here, and Annabeth was also here, though, she was not on the cheerleading team. A few minutes later after I arrived at the field with Silena, I asked Annabeth why she didn't join the cheerleading team, even though all her friends were on it. She replied with: "Cheerleading is not a very academic sport. It does not help the brain in any way other than trying to memorize the cheerleading sequence for the football game. I prefer to read and draw architectural blueprints in my free time." She really was the daughter of my boss, Athena.

"Hey, Nico!" Silena said, turning to me and grabbing my attention.

My lips tilted downwards, but I didn't turn to face her. My eyes were still on the football players who were practicing, trying to avoid a certain emerald eyed player. "I feel like you're going to ask me something."

Silena only grinned. "You're so smart, Nico. I'm not sure who's more intelligent: you are Annabeth."

I sighed. "Just get to the question."

Silena giggled. "Why did you even move in with Percy anyway? I forgot to ask you and Percy in the car when I was driving you guys home two days ago."

My breathing hitched. Shit, what was I supposed to say? Did I even have time to tell Silena my whole entire back story? I didn't want to break down in front of everyone at the field, but I felt bad for lying to Silena, who has cheered my life up many times. I sighed and frowned, trying to regain my composure. "It's actually a long story, and I don't want to tell it to you now. Maybe…later? When we're not here?"

Silena sighed, a look of depression in her eyes as she glanced at the ground. But, a few seconds later, her eyes met mine and she smiled again. "Sure, why not? At least I get to know sooner or later."

I nodded, trying to ignore the knot forming in my stomach from the thought of telling _another_ person about my horrible life. "And, can I ask you a question?"

Silena's smile widened as she nodded at me. "Sure! Anything!"

"Why were you so excited when you found out I was moving in with Percy? I mean, yeah I'm moving in with Percy, but I didn't find it very exciting as you did. You freaked out like you won the lottery or something, and I didn't think it was that big of a deal."

Silena's eyes widened, and I knew she knew something that I didn't that involved me. I frowned at her, waiting for her to respond.

Silena's voice was a low whisper, but I couldn't figure out why. "I…I can't tell you that. I'm sorry. But, it's a secret."

I wanted to go deeper into the topic, but I had to bite my tongue to ask any more questions. Silena wanted to know why I moved in with Percy, and I didn't tell her. So, why should I force Silena?

I decided to ask one more question. "Does this secret…does it involve me?"

Silena nodded. "Yeah, it does. But, I can't really tell you. I'm sorry."

I shook my head. "It's fine. I couldn't tell you why I moved in with Percy…at least…not now."

Silena frowned, something I've never seen her do before. It was a rare thing, even though I've only known her for about a week. "Yeah, but, you're going to actually tell it to me one day. This secret…I promised not to tell anyone. The person that told me it is kind of scared about it, even though that person really has nothing to worry about."

"So…let me get this straight…this person is afraid of me?" I cocked up an eyebrow in mere confusion. "Is that how it involves me?"

Silena's eyes widened once more, and she shook her head frantically. "No! No, it's not that." She giggled, something I couldn't figure out either, but I decided to not comment on it.

"Alright…" I slowly replied. "But, that's the only reasoning I can come up with from what you've said about this 'secret' so far."

Silena giggled once more. "Oh, Nico. I really do hope you'll find out one day. Really, I do."

I knit my eyebrows together. "You really want me to know that this person is afraid of me?"

Silena playfully shoved my shoulder. "This person isn't afraid of you! Do I need to nail it into your brain or something?"

I frowned. "That sounds really painful."

Silena laughed, and I raised an eyebrow once more. "Oh, Nico. You don't even see how funny you really are!"

I stared at her as if she's lost her head. Well, in my opinion, she's lost her mind. "Wait, what? You think I'm _funny_?"

Silena's laughter died, but she was still smiling from it. "Of course you're funny! You're sarcasm is so hilarious!"

I sighed. "I don't even try at these things."

Silena giggled. "That's just how you are. Everyone has their own personality, you know. They don't act like it on purpose, unless they want to hide who they truly are. I hope I don't have a friend like that."

"That was a very inspirational quote," I commented. "I wouldn't be very surprised if you got it off the internet for this very day."

Silena playfully shoved me in the shoulder once more. "Nico!" She laughed. "Like I would know this day would come."

"Well, you did seem very anxious into getting me here," I pointed out.

Silena rolled her eyes, but her bright smile was still on her beautiful face. "Hey, I just wanted you to come here and socialize with me, not to say that 'inspirational quote'."

I rolled my eyes back. "Of course you didn't."

Instead of shoving me in the shoulder, she decided to flick my forehead. She stuck her tongue out at me. "You're sarcasm, I swear." She giggled after her tongue went into her mouth.

I smiled, but it soon died down and I looked away, not really wanting to see Silena's reaction to my sudden change in emotion.

"Nico, are you okay?" Silena asked me, though I couldn't see her since I was looking at the ground.

I nodded, though it was an obvious lie. "I'm fine. It's just…never mind, you'll find out soon." I looked up again and glanced at her.

Silena had the look of both concern and worry for her expression. "Um, okay, if you say so. Is this related to…why you moved in with Percy?"

I nodded. "Yeah, it is."

Silena nodded in acknowledgment. "I see. I didn't think it was such an emotional and sensitive topic, but, I guess I was wrong." She shrugged. "I hope I get to find out soon. My curiosity is just killing me. And, I want to help you in any way possible. Got that, Nico?"

I nodded once again. "I got it."

Silena tilted her head to the side. "Since you moved in with Percy…does that mean that Percy knows?"

I stared at her for awhile, before nodding. "Yeah, he does. You can ask him about it later if you want to know so badly. He probably won't tell you, since he promised me that he won't tell anyone. Just tell him that I let you know why I moved in with him. He might tell you after you say that to him, unless he thinks you're lying."

Silena nodded. "Okay, I think I might after they finish practicing. Are you sure you're okay?"

I nodded again. "Yeah, I'm fine."


	15. Chapter 14

_**Author's Note: Sorry! I know it's been…a few days since my last update (and that is really long for me) but I had this history, science, and Spanish project. I still need to do the Spanish one…I was also typing up the first chapter of another Pernico/Percico fanfic that I thought of. If you'd like, you can read it! I'll be rotating between the two fanfics to write each one a chapter. Like, one day, I'll write a chapter for this fanfic. Then, another day, I'll write for the other fanfic, and so on. So, updates would be getting a little slower. It kind of depends on how fast I actually type the chapters. And, the beginnings are the hardest.**_

_**You guys made me so happy with your reviews that I started to write out the first part of the story in my writing notebook. If my computer was upstairs in my own room, you'd have way more updates than what I give you now. I wish my computer was upstairs though….. **_

_**And, I am sorry to say, but this is a slow-developing fanfic. All of my fanfics are, unless I want the fanfic to be super short, like one of my Pernico/Percico fanfics. So, just getting that out there to you guys.**_

_**And also, I have totally lost track of the days in this fanfic, so I am only making guesses, since Nico went out to the mall with Percy and Silena on the 21st, so I'm guessing this is two days later, since the day after they went to the mall, Percy and Nico painted his room. So, I think it's the 23rd now…right?**_

_**Well, anyway, I have been hooked onto another pairing due to super awesome fanfics by NavyBlueWing, but I most likely won't be typing fanfics for those pairings. Pernico/Percico is still my favorite. **_

_**Well, sorry for the long wait, and I hope you guys enjoy this new chapter! Sorry if it's kind of short. But hey, tomorrow's Friday! I'll type another chapter up for this fanfic instead of the other one just for you guys!**_

_**Note: Sorry for any kind of mistakes! I do not have an editor/beta reader, so this fanfic isn't perfect in terms of grammar, punctuation, etc. I am all on my own on this fanfic…how sad.**_

_**Warning: Homosexuality, language, child abuse, death, bullying (I'll add more along the way.) **_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. I am definitely not Rick Riordan. Also, I got the "Hades abuses Nico" idea from some fanfic…though which fanfic I got it from I don't remember. Ciao!**_

* * *

**The Violin That Started it All**

**Author: Loving Healer**

******Part One: Nico di Angelo**

**Chapter Fourteen**

* * *

After their football practice, apparently Percy noticed me being there without me noticing. And, I thought I was watching him the whole time. Wait, did I really just admit that? Don't tell Percy if you ever meet him.

I was the first one that Percy decided to go talk to. I probably would've felt a little more honored about Percy deciding to talk to me first out of all of his friends, but I was pretty sure I knew that he was coming to ask why I was even there and not at work.

"What are you doing here, Nico?" Percy demanded after he closed the distance between us.

I glanced up at him. Yep, I was right. I decided to play innocent, and if he actually remembered where I should have been. I cleared my throat, trying to tone down the blush that threatened to spread across my face due to how Percy looked after practice. I decided to never come to his football practice again. "What are you even talking about?"

Percy rolled his eyes. "Stop playing stupid. Why are you here?"

Apparently everyone was watching our conversation, because I could feel their gazes on us. But whenever I stared at one of them, they were just in their own little conversation with someone else. And I had the strangest feeling that their conversations were fake. Why did they even care what Percy and I talked about anyway? Or did they just want to see how I talked to people I was comfortable with, since I barely talked to them? Well, I wouldn't say that I was _exactly_ comfortable with a guy I secretly liked.

I innocently shrugged. "I don't know. Ask Silena; she was the one that dragged me here."

Percy's eyes quickly flickered in Silena's direction, who was currently having a fake conversation, before his gaze fell on me once again. "Aren't you supposed to be working at the library today?"

Since when did I tell him that I worked at the library? I narrowed my eyes at him as I pushed the question into the back of my mind, knowing full well that it would come up into my head again. I rubbed the back of my neck. "My boss decided to give me a break since I told her why I wasn't working for so long."

Percy blinked a couple times at me, but I couldn't figure out why. He shook his head after he snapped out of his daze. "You actually told her everything? Like, _everything_?"

I could pretty much feel Silena's anxious and curious gaze as to what "everything" referred to on the side of my head, but I chose to ignore it. "She's actually known for awhile now. I mean, she's my boss; she's bound to find out sometime."

Percy scanned my face with a look that I couldn't read, but he chose not to response to my statement. Instead, he glanced at Silena over to my right when she cleared her throat. I already knew what she wanted to talk about.

"Percy? Can I, _um_, talk to you? Privately?" Silena timidly asked, glancing at me. I didn't know if she wanted a confirmation or not, but I nodded, despite the knot forming in my stomach once again at the thought of my back story being brought up again.

Annabeth eyed both Silena and me with an uncomfortable, yet calculating gaze. I gulped, feeling slightly more nervous. I had another strange feeling that she was in the middle of reading both of our minds—specifically mine.

Percy cocked his head to the side, his expression mirroring one of curiosity. "_Uh_, sure, I guess?"

They started to walk off, when I called out, "Hey, Percy?"

Percy glanced behind his shoulder, while Silena turned around fully. "Yeah?"

"When she asks, tell her. She's not lying when she said I let her know," I told Percy, who only raised an eyebrow.

"What are you talking about?"

I sighed. "You'll find out soon enough."

Silena smiled at me. "Thanks, Nico."

Percy glanced from Silena to me, and then sighed. "What kind of conversation did you guys have earlier?"

Silena only giggled and tapped on Percy's shoulder. "You'll find out soon enough."

"What is that, phrase of the day?" Percy said exasperatedly, before he followed Silena farther into the field, where no one else was.

"Wait, Nico, you know what Silena wants to talk about?" Hazel turned towards me.

I shrugged. "Maybe."

"Maybe?! How does that answer my question!"

I shrugged. "Who knows?"

Hazel sighed heavily and rubbed her right temple. "Why do you talk in riddles?"

I shrugged. "Who knows?"

"Nico!" Hazel laughed.

"No but seriously, what are they talking about?" Jason decided to join in on the conversation. "I've never seen Silena get like that."

"She only gets like that when she's afraid or nervous," Beckendorf answered, taking a swig from the half-empty water bottle in his right hand.

"Maybe she wants to ask Percy out on a date." Leo snickered. I totally forgot to mention that Leo was here as well, even though he wasn't on the football team either.

Annabeth sent the Latino a venomous death glare, crossing her arms across her chest. Beckendorf shoved Leo off his chair. I smiled at them, clearly amused.

"_Ow_, jeez guys, can't take a joke?" Leo grumbled, pushing himself off the ground and dusting himself off. He glanced at me and saw me smiling. "Glad you enjoy my suffering." He dropped himself into his seat.

Everyone glanced at me and my smile instantly died. I blinked blankly at all of them, unsure of what to say. I felt very self-conscious, and I didn't like it. No one ever noticed me; I made myself unnoticeable on purpose. But, now _I_ was the center of attention, and I certainly hated it.

"Wow, well would you look at that. Nico was actually smiling." Will smirked.

"I should've gotten my camera ready." Kayla sighed.

"You guys are all idiots," I grumbled, crossing my arms over my chest and slouching in my seat. I glared at all of them around me.

"Nico, you are just so cute. You are the cutest freshman I've ever seen. I'm surprised I haven't noticed you earlier," Piper cooed, pinching my cheeks.

I swatted her hand away and sat back up in my chair. "I make myself unnoticeable."

"Why?" Jason asked, raising an eyebrow.

I realized that I had said way too much for my liking. I opened and closed my mouth several times, unsure of what to say for the second time of the day. I decided to keep my mouth shut, and my lips tilted downward. I soon responded, "None of your business."

"Come on, Nico. We're you're friends, right?" Hazel encouraged. "You can tell us anything."

"Not to be mean or anything, but I don't trust you guys just yet," I muttered under my breath.

Apparently Reyna heard me. "I seem to not trust you either."

"Reyna!" Piper exclaimed. "Not helping!"

Reyna rolled her eyes. "Just saying."

"You seem to just trust Percy and Silena just fine," Butch pointed out.

I frowned. "That's because I've talked to them the most."

"Then, maybe we should start getting to know you more." Will ended up taking Silena's spot next to me and swinging an arm around my shoulders. "So, when's your birthday?"

I shrugged his arm off of my shoulders. "January 29th."

"Holy shit it's the 23rd!" Will exclaimed, letting his arm that was pushed off return to his side. "Why didn't you tell us earlier?"

I furrowed my brows. "You guys never asked. I never make such a big deal about my birthday anyway."

"You don't?!" Hazel asked, clearly shocked.

"Now we have to make a huge deal about his birthday, I'm guessing," Reyna surmised.

Piper giggled. "Oh, you bet."

I rolled my eyes at them. "You guys don't have to. I mean, Silena and Percy already got me a gift on Friday. And I already told them I didn't need one. You guys don't have to if you want."

"Are you kidding?" Beckendorf coughed. "Even if I just met you, you're still my friend."

I sighed heavily. "Don't tell me you guys are going to get super expensive presents."

"Why? Did Silena and Percy get you something super expensive?" Miranda ventured.

"Most likely. On Friday at the mall, they told me to wait outside while they went into Kay Jewelers," I answered.

"Jewelry? You don't seem like one to wear stuff like that," Butch said.

"If both Silena and Percy agreed on the idea, then I'm pretty sure it's more than just regular jewelry." Annabeth finally decided to speak up to everyone. Her calculating gaze that was studying me fell.

"Well, no offense, but they're both idiots," Leo remarked.

"You're one to talk," Frank and I spoke simultaneously. We both glanced at each other and Frank chuckled.

"Looks like Nico's on my side." Frank smirked at Leo.

"Man, you guys just hate me." Leo shook his head.

"I feel like you guys made a bet on whose side I would be on," I guessed, glancing between Leo and Frank.

"They did." Piper rolled her eyes as if to say: _Boys._

"You guys really hate each other, do you?" Annabeth directed at Frank and Leo.

"I'm pretty sure you can answer that yourself, Ms. Brain Girl," Leo replied, resulting in a book hitting his forehead.

"Jason, can you pass that back to me?" Annabeth asked like she didn't just throw a book at Leo.

"Wow, thanks for the sorry!" Leo waved his arms in the air for emphasis.

Annabeth only rolled her eyes as she caught the book she threw at Leo. "No problem."

"Hey, look who's coming back." Butch pointed a finger towards Silena and Percy, who were currently walking back.

When they finally reached us, Silena was staring at the ground as drops of water touched the ground. I then realized that she was _crying_, but for what, I wasn't sure. Was she feeling bad for me? Was that why? Percy was staring back at her with a sympathetic look across his face.

"N-Nico," Silena began through tears, "I'm so so so sorry."

I shook my head. "You don't have to be. I mean, what did you do? It's not your fault."

"It's my fault for not being there when you need someone!" Silena retorted, continuing to have her conversation with the ground.

"It doesn't matter anymore. It's a thing of the past, don't worry." I attempted to reassure her.

"But, Percy said you haven't gotten over it," Silena replied.

I shot Percy a look. "You really told her everything."

He put his hands up defensively. "She told me to. Every single thing, she forced me to say. I wasn't even going to talk about how you felt until she started to yell at me."

"Yell? Silena doesn't yell," Miranda said, making Percy's and my gaze fall towards her.

"This 'everything' must really be troubling," Jason muttered.

"And, even if she _was_ yelling, we would've heard it," Katie said.

"They were standing all the way down to the end of the field. And, we were in our own conversation," Annabeth stated.

"That is true," Jake agreed.

"Okay, my curiosity is killing me. What were you guys talking about?" Beckendorf got up from his chair and went to go hug Silena around the waist.

Silena shook her head, snaking her arms around his neck, and burying her face into her chest. "I c-can't tell you. I'm sorry, Charlie." She sobbed into his chest, but I wondered why she sobbed so much over it, like it happened to _her_ instead of _me_.

"I bet that's how I looked like when I explained it to you, huh, Percy?" I glanced over to Percy, who glanced back at me when he heard his name in my sentence.

Percy gave me a sorrowful look. He parted his lips before he started to speak seconds later. "Yeah, I guess." He glanced back at Silena and Beckendorf. "I don't really like to think about how my friends cry though."

"But, what were you guys talking about?" Will brought up again.

"Like what Silena said, we can't tell you." Percy shrugged his shoulders.

"Why not? I'm pretty sure we have to get Nico's permission, since from earlier, he said for you to tell her," Jason pointed out, glancing from Percy to me. "I'm guessing this is Nico's secret or something."

Percy glanced at me, unsure if he should answer, but I nodded, answering for him. "Yeah, it's my secret, I guess. I just don't like talking about it, which is why I made Percy tell her for me." I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to hold in tears from just thinking about it.

Annabeth, surprisingly, walked over to me and wrapped an arm around me. "It's okay, Nico. Don't push yourself." She whispered to me. She glanced up at all the others. "Don't push him either. If he doesn't want to talk about it, leave him alone. He looks like he's had enough anyway."

Everyone nodded, and to my surprise, even Reyna nodded and said, "He'll tell us when he's ready. For now, I agree with Annabeth. We should leave him."

Annabeth pulled me closer, and I realized that this was the side of Annabeth that I was thinking about yesterday while I was painting my room. This was the side Annabeth had yet to show me, and now she was opening up to me. Did that mean I should open up to her? Could I even trust her just yet?

A warm feeling tugged at the pit of my stomach before a tear rolled down my cheek. I let it fall, not giving a care about it anymore. Annabeth wiped it away from my cheek for me, and I could see Percy's eyes widening at the tear from the corner of my eye. I hugged myself tighter, and Annabeth's arm around me tightened. I was glad to find Annabeth's other side, and not her calculating side that studied me like a Calculus problem.

And the day on the field continued to be just like that.


	16. Chapter 15

_**Author's Note: -deeply sighs- I love dramatic irony. It's my favorite thing and my goal in making stories. I am so glad I succeeded in making dramatic irony in this fanfic.**_

_**And anyway, that was a bit irrelevant. But, are my chapters emotional enough? I mean, when I read them, I don't get emotional because I already know what's going to happen. So, I decided to ask you guys. Are they? I'm not a very good writer when it comes to feelings, so I'm just a bit curious. I'm not a very good writer when it comes to moody and emotional parts…I'm more of a humorous one actually. That's why Leo is so easy for me to type. **_

_**Well, nothing else to say at the moment. So, happy reading the chapter! I have zero inspiration right now plus a headache, so I hope the chapter isn't too bad. And sorry for a late update. I went to my uncle's and aunt's house for dinner, and stayed there for three hours. Half the time I was drawing instead of thinking up more things for the plot…sooo…yeahh…**_

_**Note: Sorry for any kind of mistakes! I do not have an editor/beta reader, so this fanfic isn't perfect in terms of grammar, punctuation, etc. I am all on my own on this fanfic…how sad.**_

_**Warning: Homosexuality, language, child abuse, death, bullying (I'll add more along the way.) **_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. I am definitely not Rick Riordan. Also, I got the "Hades abuses Nico" idea from some fanfic…though which fanfic I got it from I don't remember. Ciao!**_

* * *

**The Violin That Started it All**

**Author: Loving Healer**

******Part One: Nico di Angelo**

**Chapter Fifteen**

* * *

"Nico? Are you sure you're okay?" I stopped in my tracks and glanced behind my shoulder to see Silena timidly walking up to Percy and me. Percy and I were about to leave the field and go back home after their football practice. We were one of the first ones to leave, mainly because Percy was concerned about me.

I nodded, fully turning around to converse properly with her. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm learning to get over it, thanks to you guys." I still felt kind of depressed over the whole ordeal, but I didn't want to worry Silena anymore more than she already is.

Silena ran up and wrapped her arms around my neck, but it wasn't the suffocating hugs she usually gave me as a greeting. It was a more comforting and gentle hug. What's the word? Affectionate. It was an affectionate hug that she gave me. One that I haven't gotten in five years, and the last one I got it from was Bianca. She was so gentle with me during this hug, like I was made out of glass.

"I'm sorry," She apologized again, pushing away and rubbing the tears off her cheeks.

I sighed, but gave her a sympathetic smile. "It's fine. It wasn't your fault anyway. So, you have nothing to be sorry about."

She nodded once again. "Okay. I'll see you tomorrow, Nico!"

I nodded, my smile dropping. I couldn't keep a smile for more than five seconds or something. "Yeah. I'll see you."

* * *

"Why did you decide to tell Silena?" Percy asked once he closed the front door. There was a note on the door stating that Sally went out grocery shopping. I only shrugged my shoulders before shoving my fists into my pockets.

"Did something happen today?"

We both spun around and faced the couch to find Paul reading yet, another new book called _The Blood of Olympus_ by Rick Riordan. I think I've read that book. I guess it was a good book, but I still feel kind of sympathetic to this one character that I can't recall the name of. He was kind of like me.

"_Uh_, no," Percy faked a smile, "nothing happened. Thanks for being concerned though."

Paul nodded, though he didn't seem very convinced. He could probably read through all of Percy's fake smiles by now. "If you guys say so. How was football practice? Sally told me you went with Silena to the school to watch them, Nico."

"Yeah, I did." I rubbed the back of my neck as if it could erase the memory that happened.

"And, football practice was _t-ir-ing_." Percy groaned while stretching, while I glanced anywhere in the room other than Percy.

Paul chuckled in amusement. "At least you're getting the exercise you need.

Percy only rolled his eyes as he took my wrist and dragged me upstairs. "Have fun reading?"

Paul smiled and shook his head. "You need to understand how important reading is in your life."

Percy didn't reply as he dragged me upstairs. I already knew he was going to repeat his question from earlier when we first entered his house. I decided to just play it like it was no big of a deal.

He dropped my wrist once we made it into his room and closed the door By now, I was glad I wasn't nervous when I was in his room anymore. I was still nervous about sleeping in his room with Percy present in it, which I did last night. But, I chose to sleep on the ground, even though Percy offered me his bed. Paul insisted that I sleep in Percy's room until the paint on my walls completely dry. So, one more day of sleeping in Percy's room, and I finally get to go back to mine.

"Why did you decide to tell Silena?" Percy asked me, standing in front of me as I seated myself on Percy's dark blue Amia chair that was placed by his desk.

I shrugged. "She wanted to know, so I told her. I mean, I trust her a lot too. And, I feel like I owe it to her after all she's done for me."

Percy sighed heavily and sat on the edge of his bed. I spun the chair that I sat on so that he faced Percy. "You always think you need to 'owe it' to us, don't you?"

I frowned in mere confusion. "Well, yeah. That's how life works."

"No, it doesn't," Percy objected. "Some people don't want anything in return."

"Did you not want me to tell her?" I decided to ask.

"I thought you didn't want to tell anyone."

"I don't, I hate thinking about it, let alone talking about it with someone else."

"Then why did you tell Silena?"

I sighed. "I…I don't know, I guess. Maybe it was because I thought it was unfair if I told you and not her. You guys…are the only people I actually consider my friends. The others are just kind of there. I don't pay much attention to them. It was why I felt so awkward when both of you left to talk to each other about my…past."

It was silent for a while, before Percy collapsed on his back on the bed. "I don't even know why I'm asking this anyway. It's your past, so I shouldn't be telling when or when not to tell someone."

I shook my head and rested my feet on the edge of his bed. "It's fine. Thanks for being…concerned I guess."

Percy held himself up with his elbows and smiled at me. "You don't have to thank me either, you know."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. Don't take my kindness."

Percy chuckled and sat up. "Don't be like that, Neeks."

"Neeks?" I raised both my eyebrows at him.

"Yeah," Percy's smile only grew wider, "I needed a nickname for my best friend, you know."

"But…Neeks?" I stared at him incredulously. "Seriously?"

Percy only laughed. "Yep. It seems perfect."

I sighed. "You know, I hate nicknames."

"That's what makes giving you a nickname even better."

I rolled my eyes. "Then, since you give all your best friends a nickname, then what was Grover's?"

"I called him G-man." Percy shrugged. "It fit him so well."

"Wow," I sarcastically commented, "you are the master at nicknames."

"I know right!" Percy triumphed.

"Whatever, what should I call you then if you're going to give me a nickname?"

"_Hm_," Percy thought for a minute, until he replied, "most of my friends call me Perce."

"Perce? As in…_purse_?" I clarified.

Percy shrugged. "Yeah, pretty much. I don't remember who gave me that nickname though." There was a pause before Percy asked, "Do you plan on telling anyone else?"

"Telling everyone about what?" I stopped before the gears turned in my head. "Oh, you mean about...Well, no, at least, I don't think so. It kind of depends."

"Depends on what?" Percy ventured.

"Depends if I make anymore closer friends," I replied. "That I actually trust, of course."

"I think you will make more friends that you can trust though," Percy said.

I arched an eyebrow. "And, why is that?"

Percy shrugged and leaned his back against the wall his bed was next to, stretching out his legs. "I don't know. You just seem like a guy that's easy to get along with."

"Seriously? My eyebrow continued to be raised. "I pushed you guys away like three times."

"Well yeah," Percy agreed, "but when you _finally_ gave in, it was easy talking to you. It just felt…natural. It felt like I've been friends with you my whole life."

I didn't really know how to respond to that. Actually, I felt like that too when I first met all of them, minus the awkwardness from being Percy's secret crush. Why was it so easy for me to talk to people? I thought I hated people? Maybe I just couldn't be honest with my feelings. Maybe I feel somewhat differently now that I had friends who actually liked me for who I was. Things can change; everything does.

"I…guess so," I finally replied.

"I don't see why you push people away." Percy sat Indian style on his bed. "You're a nice guy."

"Thanks," I thanked slowly, "I'll…take that as a compliment."

Percy grinned. "No problem. So, what do you want to do now?"

I shrugged. "What do you want to do? And hey, where's my birthday present?"

Percy's grin turned into a smirk. "So you _do_ want a birthday present, huh?"

I rolled my eyes. "I'm just curious as to what it is. You guys didn't have to go out of your way to buy it anyway."

"Of course we do, we're your friends," Percy said. "That's what friends do you know."

I fidgeted in my seat. "I don't know. I just feel…spoiled...that's all."

Percy raised an eyebrow. "You feel spoiled…seriously?"

I nodded. "Well, yeah. What's so wrong about that?"

Percy sighed exasperatedly. "You feel spoiled even though you haven't gotten a single thing from anybody in five whole years. There is definitely something wrong there."

I frowned. "Well…I got money from my boss. Does that count for anything?"

Percy rolled his eyes. "No, that doesn't count for anything. You had to work for that money. This time, someone's giving you a present out of compassion." Percy rubbed a hand down his face. "You are so oblivious when someone's trying to be nice to you."

"Well excuse me," I huffed. "I'm just not used to this concept anyway. I threw it away years ago. Now I have to adapt to it again."

Percy smiled. "We'll always be there for you, you know. Don't think we're ever going to bail on you."

"I really doubt that," I muttered quietly to myself, but Percy seemed to have caught it.

His hands clenched into fists, like he was ready to pucnh me, but he refrained himself from doing so. "Nico…sometimes…you really piss me off. Why can't you just trust me that I'm not going to leave you?"

My heart fluttered over the fact that he only mentioned himself not leaving, but I decided to try and ignore it and think he was just thinking too fast to mention the others. "Because I did that five years ago, and look what happened," I retorted, crossing my arms over my chest and slouching.

Percy's expression mirrored sadness. "It's not going to happen again. Just trust me, Nico. I'm not going to die or leave you on your own." His eyes became even sadder. "I'd never be able to do that to anyone."

I thought about that for a few moments. What if Percy really _did_ leave me? What if everything backfired one day and he stopped caring for me because he thought I was a nuisance? I certainly did feel like one. I felt as if I took all his free time away from him. When he could be going out with his friends, he chose to stay home with me. My heart clenched at the thought, not from happiness, but the complete opposite. I was pretty much taking his freedom away, yet he still told me he didn't mind. What if he really did mind, but he just wanted to be nice? He was just probably giving me the one thing I hated from people: sympathy.

I didn't want to think about it. I trusted Percy with my whole heart now. I didn't close him off anymore. I didn't know _when_ that exactly happened, but it happened at one point. And, the one thing I hated about life was that I couldn't reverse anything I did. Once you do something, you can't erase it. It'll always be there. If you write something out and then erase it, it'll still be in your memory. It'll always be there, and I hated that. So, what if I did something wrong that I didn't know of? What if I made too many mistakes? I tend to make many mistakes in my life. I guess I see why my father called me a failure.

I unconsciously gritted my teeth. My father. I haven't thought about him in awhile. What a coincidence that I suddenly thought about him when I was thinking about Percy leaving me. My father left me, even if he was still in my life. Percy could leave me whenever he wanted to as well. I mean, we were only friends. It could happen any time. Life wasn't perfect, especially for someone like me. I was pretty sure our friendship would end by the end of the month. That's why I didn't want to get close to people anymore. I was afraid…afraid of them leaving me. Like my mother and Bianca.

Suddenly Percy was up from his spot and in front of me, caressing my cheek, while lifting my face up so that it faced his. His hand was wet, but I couldn't figure out why. He had a look of concern, worry, and sadness written across his face. What did my expression look like to make Percy feel that way?

"I don't know what you're thinking in that head of yours," Percy started, "but I know it's something stupid." His tone was serious, one of the things that frightened me about Percy. "What are you thinking?"

"N-nothing," I stuttered. My voice was unwavering, and I realized Percy's hand was wet because of _me_. Because of my tears, the tears that I didn't know that were currently rolling down my cheek as Percy wiped them away.

"It's obviously something," Percy objected, his grip on my cheek tightening. He was obviously angry at me. He probably already knew what I was thinking, but he just wanted to hear me say it to him. Or he just wanted a confirmation of what he thought I was thinking. Either way, I still didn't want to answer, but his serious expression scared the Hell out of me.

I gulped, and I knew Percy could tell I was nervous, because his grip on my cheek loosened. I took a deep breath, before I told him. "I was just thinking of what might happen if you actually…do leave me. I was thinking about how much I take away from you, and how much of a bother I was to you. I mean, to be honest, I trust you with my whole heart. But, I never wanted to because I was afraid of being close to someone. I was afraid of them leaving me. I don't…want it to happen ever again. But," My heart clenched even more at the thought, "I know…I know it's going to happen soon. I _know_ it will. It _will_ happen, and I know that person that's going to leave me is you. The person that I care about the most is going to leave me, because that's how my life works." I smiled, but it was humorless. "I'm pretty much a walking bad luck charm, so you better stay away from me, you know." Another tear made its way down, but I let it fall.

Percy didn't respond, which made me even more nervous. I didn't know what he was thinking, and I didn't think I wanted to know. His expression was now unreadable, and nothing reflected in his eyes. It made me scared. I just wanted to shove him away, run into my room, and lock myself in there for who knows how long. I was too scared to know what Percy thought. What if he was thinking about the possibilities from what I just said to him?

Percy released his grip on my cheek, and he let his hand fall down to his side. He glanced down towards the floor, until he looked up at me with determination in his eyes. My eyes widened at the sudden change in emotion, but I waited to see what he would say to me.

"I _won't_ be the one to leave you, Nico." Percy began with a new set of determination. "And I _know_ that for a fact. I _will_ stay by your side for an eternity. I trust you with my whole heart too. And, life changes, Nico, all the time. And I know you know that. I will _never_ leave you no matter what happens, or no matter what you say. You can push me away, but I won't leave. I stand my ground here, with you. I don't care what anyone says about you. I'll defend you the whole entire way. You've suffered too much, and you don't need any more suffering in your life. Sure, I've been through the same thing as you. But, I had my mom to support me. You…you had to deal with your dad and your mom's and your sister's…" He hesitated, but I nodded to let him know it was okay "…deaths." He stopped for a moment, probably thinking of what else to say, but his last sentence hit me so hard, I didn't think I could speak for days.

"And, I love you, Nico."


	17. Chapter 16

_**Author's Note: UGH my head is so itchy and I'm afraid I have lice or something. I didn't share hats or brushes or anything! What did I ever do to get lice? Why are so many horrible things happening to me? **_

_**Oh, and sorry for such a slow update, I had a terrible headache yesterday. And, I got a new computer monitor! So I'll have to get used to that too. **_

_**Oh, and Dauntless Queen, this fanfic is FAR from over. **_

_**Also, Guest, I already looked it up. "Empathy" is pity and "Sympathy" is shared feelings. I already made that mistake once in this fanfic, so I had to go back and change it…**_

_**I seriously need to write a new chapter for my other Pernico/Percico fanfic. But, I am at a really good part in this fanfic, so I just couldn't leave you guys hanging with that last sentence! So, here's the new chapter!**_

_**And, thanks for all the reviews, and happy reading! (I have the strangest feeling that Nico is way out of character in this chapter, but whatever.) I have also decided to add some Nico and Annabeth bonding! Yay! I didn't want to make Annabeth seem super cold-hearted, because she really isn't. I hate it when fanfics make her like that…(for her back story, I changed it up a bit to match this AU! Sorry!)**_

_**Note: Sorry for any kind of mistakes! I do not have an editor/beta reader, so this fanfic isn't perfect in terms of grammar, punctuation, etc. I am all on my own on this fanfic…how sad.**_

_**Warning: Homosexuality, language, child abuse, death, bullying (I'll add more along the way.) **_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. I am definitely not Rick Riordan. Also, I got the "Hades abuses Nico" idea from some fanfic…though which fanfic I got it from I don't remember. Ciao!**_

* * *

**The Violin That Started it All**

**Author: Loving Healer**

******Part One: Nico di Angelo**

**Chapter Sixteen**

* * *

My throat became dry, and my eyes became so wide I thought that they would pop out of their eye sockets. Wasn't Percy with Annabeth? Why would he like someone like me? Did he even know what he was saying? And, did he mean in a friendly kind of way, or in an actual loving kind of way? Millions of questions swam in my head, by my throat decided to not work, so I just stared in complete shock at the other person in the room.

I cleared my throat, and decided to think that he meant it in a friendly kind of way. I regained my composure as best as I could, and tried to sound as normal as possible. "I do too, you know. You've…done a lot for me anyway."

Percy sighed and he grasped my cheek once more. "No, Nico. Not as a friend. Even more than that, and I know you know what I mean."

My breathing almost stopped. "Are you serious?! That's…how…but…" I didn't even know what to ask first.

Percy chuckled. "I know, I know. It seems unbelievable, huh? I told Silena when we were in Kay Jewelers on Friday. I was really confused and scared about what people would think, but after seeing what happened to you today just now, I don't really care anymore." Percy gave me a genuine smile. "I really do love you, Nico. Really, I do. I had to tell you sometime, you know. I couldn't keep it with me forever."

"But…" I had so many things on my mind right now, my mouth wouldn't cooperate. I decided to try again. "But aren't you dating…Annabeth? What about her?"

"Well," Percy started, "I do love her. But, not as much as you. I just love making you smile, but I hate seeing that look you get whenever your smile goes away. I want to make you happy without seeing that look. I want to make you smile in your life more than you do now. You really deserve it. You don't deserve anything that happened in your life before. I was actually planning on breaking up with her soon…"

I was totally speechless. Percy was going to break up with Annabeth…for me? "But…"  
I shook my head. "You don't have to. I mean, I know you really like her. Maybe this all a mistake." I gave him a nervous smile. "Surely you don't actually mean it, right? I mean, maybe you're just over-thinking this. Nothing good ever happens in my life." My nervous smile faltered. "So, you actually liking me was never a possibility that could ever happen."

Percy raised an eyebrow. "So, you actually do like me?" He smirked.

I glanced to the side, the blush spreading across my face very evident. "Well, actually, I've liked you since I started high school, before we actually met."

Percy blinked momentarily at me. "Wow, I didn't even know that. Is that why…?"

I already knew what he was thinking. "Yeah, that's why I hated contact from you so much."

Now it was Percy's turn for his eyes to become wide. "That…explains a lot about you now." Percy rubbed the back of his neck.

"You know," I started, "you don't have to break up with Annabeth for me." I ignored the clenching of my heart. "I'm content with what I have now with you." I would've smiled, but I knew it would give away how I actually felt if I did.

"Are you sure about that?" Percy asked, but I avoided his gaze that was on me. "I'd do anything for you. And, it's fine if I have to—"

"You should stay with her," I interrupted. "It's better."

"Better for whom, exactly?" Percy asked. "Better for me?" The way he said it made me uncomfortable. I was pretty sure he was hinting at…at _something_, but I couldn't figure out what.

"I…_uh_…"My voice died. I didn't know what to reply now.

"If you actually think that's it's better for me, then I don't know what to tell you." I continued to avoid Percy's eyes. "I know you're smart, Nico. You can't expect that something's better for someone else if you don't know how they really feel."

"Then…how do you feel?" I hesitantly asked.

"How do I feel?" He asked himself. He took my chin and made me face him. He had a smile plastered on his handsomely tanned face. "I feel really happy right now. Happy that you actually like me the same way I do to you." His smile disappeared. "But, at the same time, I feel depressed that I made you sad without even knowing it. You had to push me away because your feelings were so strong, yet I always got in your way. You loved me, but I always told you that you were my best friend." He soon smiled again, and he chuckled while rubbing the back of his neck. "And, I feel stupid for thinking about how you would react if I told you that I loved you, even though you secretly loved me back." His hand rubbing his neck fell back to his side. "I'm feeling many things right now, so I guess I couldn't tell you with just one feeling described. Even if I've only known you for like what, five days? I somehow fell in love with you. And, that just proves how great of a guy you really are. I've known Annabeth for three years now, and we've only dated for a few months. It was so easy just falling in love with you, which proves just how much I want to be with you, doesn't it?"

"I-I guess. But if you don't want to do be with me, then that's fine with me." I shifted my gaze towards the wall behind him.

"Who said that I didn't want to be with you?"

My gaze rapidly made its way back to Percy. "Seriously? You really want to be with someone like me?"

Percy sighed, but a smile was on his face. "See? You're still pushing me away. And, what have I been saying this whole time?"

"That…you want to be with me," I hesitantly replied.

Percy chuckled. "See? You are pretty intelligent. You just don't want to face the truth. No wonder you're so good at lying."

I rolled my eyes. "Shut up. I just…I just want people to be happy."

"Yet you don't let _yourself_ be happy," Percy remarked. "You'd rather have the whole world be happy but yourself. Do you really not care for yourself that much? Have you ever realized that there are people out there that actually want you to be happy?"

"Well…" I began, but what was I supposed to say?

"I'll...I'll figure something out, okay?" Percy said.

I didn't know _what_ he was talking about, but I nodded. How was our friendship going to be now that we both like…or…_love_ each other?

And here was the part where I would've laughed out loud if you told me this at chapter one.

Percy's face was a little too close to mine, and our lips were pushed together. Percy was _kissing_ me. I was in momentary shock, and I didn't know whether or not to respond. His lips were so soft, while his tongue ran on my bottom lip. My eyes were even wider than before when he confessed to me. His thumb rubbed back and forth on my other cheek, and his hand snaked to my neck. Percy's eyes were closed, and I didn't know what he was thinking. It was my first ever kiss, and I didn't know _what_ to think. But for one, I felt happy. I haven't felt any happier in the last five years.

When he pulled back, I was still in shock. Not _real_ shock, but, you know. Percy chuckled and poked me in the forehead, which snapped me out of my daze. I blinked blankly at him with wide eyes, still waiting for an explanation.

He only continued to smile at me. "I'll do something about it, okay? This won't be the last time."

Before I could ask him what he even meant, he left the room.

* * *

I didn't really want to face everyone after my break-down the previous day. It wasn't as big as a break-down from when I talked about what happened five years ago with Percy, but I still cried from it. To be honest, I didn't feel embarrassed by it. I just didn't want to face the questions that would follow. I wanted to avoid questions from them as best as possible. So, I went to the one place at lunch where I would be able to sit alone.

Well, I _thought_ I would be able to sit alone.

I was sitting against the tree that I used to sit at before I acquainted Percy and everyone else. My right leg was bent and my elbow rested upon it as I stared off at nothing in particular. It was freezing outside, so most of the students attending the school were inside, so I didn't think anyone would actually find me. I was just glad I brought my black Aviator jacket today, so I wouldn't end up freezing to death.

But the most unexpected person came up to me.

She wore a black winter jacket with fur lining the hood of it. She wore dark blue jean shorts—despite the cold—that ended just above her knees. She had black boots on that matched her jacket, and I could tell that underneath her jacket, she had an orange T-shirt on. What was imprinted onto the T-shirt, I couldn't tell. Her blond hair was tied up in a ponytail, and her hands were shoved deep into her jacket pockets. Her gray eyes held mild relief as she looked down at me instead of an unnerving gaze.

"There you are." She breathed a sigh of relief. "I guessed that you would be here. Can I sit down?"

I nodded quietly as she slid down to the empty spot next to me by the tree. She turned to me and gave me a smile—surprisingly.

"You know, Silena's freaking out that you're not there so I offered to go find you and bring you back. But, I'm guessing you don't want to go back, do you?" Annabeth surmised.

"Yeah, I kind of don't," I finally replied verbally.

Annabeth shrugged. "Makes sense. How's your day been going? I don't really remember my freshman year that well, other than the fact that I met Percy and everyone else that year."

I shrugged. "Same as always, I guess."

"Boring?" Annabeth suggested with a small laugh.

I managed to crack a small smile. "Yeah, pretty much."

"So, I heard you're smart, isn't that right?" Annabeth asked. "Maybe you could be my new study partner. I haven't managed to find anyone of my caliber."

My smile fell—as always—but I managed to hide my look of forlorn. But, I was pretty sure she saw right through it. "I'm not even in the same grade as you."

She shrugged in response. "At least you get a head start on what you'll learn in junior year, right?"

"I guess," I agreed. Why wasn't she asking me anything from yesterday? Wasn't she curious?

She read my mind like it was written across my forehead. "You're wondering why I'm not asking you anything from yesterday, aren't you?"

I still wonder how the mind-reading thing works. I nodded. "Yeah, I am. How…did you know?"

Annabeth shrugged. "Just a guess. I mean, you _are_ smart. And I know you wouldn't forget what happened yesterday. Plus, I'm pretty sure that's why you're avoiding the rest of them. Is it because you don't want to answer their questions?"

"What if I'm embarrassed from yesterday because I cried?"

Annabeth waved her hand. "Oh please. That was one tear. And, you don't seem like the type of guy to get embarrassed by that."

I grunted. "You are really smart."

Annabeth smiled. "Thanks, I'll take that as a compliment. You know, I had a bad childhood too, just like you."

I arched an eyebrow, but I said nothing. I wanted to ask her, but I didn't want to barge into something she didn't want to talk about, like what she was doing with me.

Annabeth glanced up at the dark gray skies. "It's fine. You can ask me." She looked at me in the corner of her eyes. "Though, I might as well start explaining."

I shook my head. "You don't have to, you know."

Annabeth sighed. "Silena says that I scare you. Is that true?"

I blinked at her before replying. "Well, yeah, kind of."

Annabeth giggled—something I'd never thought I could see Annabeth do. "Well, at first I may scare people. I'm not very good at making friends. But, along the way, I'll get better."

I nodded. "You do seem better from when I first met you."

Annabeth shrugged. "I just don't trust people at first glances. Silena is too trusting."

I nodded. "I can agree to that."

Annabeth smiled. "Well, on to my story, huh?"

"You sure?" I asked her again.

Annabeth nodded. "I never go back on my word." She sighed, mentally preparing herself for her story. "When I was little, my dad hated me. We fought over every little thing, but now that I look back on it, I never knew why. Maybe it was because I reminded him so much of my actual mom. He divorced with her when I was about three.

"I fought with my dad so much, we ended up causing problems for the family. My twin brothers would also side with my dad, since I had a different mom than them. My brothers thought I was weird. And not in a funny type of way, in a freak type of way." Her eyes clouded with sorrow at the thought.

"My step-mom would never believe a word that I said. My biggest fear is spiders, and there was a large family of spiders living in my room. They crawled on my bed at night and bit me in many places, and I screamed for my dad, even if we did fight a lot. But, my step-mom thought I was just lying, because whenever she came in, the spiders would hide away from all the light. And, every time I got dressed each morning, the bite marks would fade away. My step-mom probably thought I was a freak. So, I ran away when I was seven."

"You ran away?" I asked for confirmation.

She nodded. "Yeah." She brought her knees up to her chest, and wrapped her arms around them. "I went to go see if I could find my real mom. I lived on the streets for about a year or so, and it was the worst year of my life. It was so cold at night, and I didn't bring many things with me when I ran away. I almost starved to death out there. I'm just glad you didn't consider running away."

"Along the way, I bumped into Jason's older sister: Thalia Grace. I met her when I was sitting on a bench by an alley I ended up sleeping in a lot. She said I looked pretty lonely and out of shape, so she started to talk to me, I told her about what happened, and she let me stay home with her, which is where I met Jason. But at the time, I didn't get along very well with Jason. We barely talked to one another when we met.

"I told Thalia that I wanted to find my mom. Her name's Athena. Thalia promised that she would do whatever she could. So one day, when she came back from a trip to the library, she told me the boss that worked there was named Athena. This was when I was about nine or ten years old. So the next day, we visited the library again, and my mom recognized me as fast as she laid eyes on me. Later on that day, I packed my stuff that I got from Thalia and went to live with my real mom. I didn't see Thalia until I became friends with Jason in freshman year—five or six years later.

"My life became a whole lot better when I started to live with my mom. I told her about what happened and why I ran away. She would comfort me at night, because I was still afraid of spiders coming out—which was why I didn't sleep in super dark alleys when I was living out on the streets. I got over it when I was eleven, and that's where my horrible childhood ended." Annabeth exhaled, finally finishing her story.

I stared back at her in surprised. "That's…one story."

Annabeth smiled. "Yeah, I'm just glad it's gone and done. Do me a favor and not tell anyone? Only Jason knows, but he's never told anyone. At least, that's what I know. I've only told you, and well, Jason has known for a while."

I nodded. "I promise. I should really do the favor and telling you my story. But, I haven't gotten over it as well as you have."

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "Oh, believe me, I'm still scared of spiders. And, I still get angry whenever I think about them." She clenched her fists for emphasis. "But, well, I've learned to control that anger."

"That's why you don't trust people very easily, isn't it?" I surmised.

Annabeth nodded. "Yeah. I trusted my step-mom, but she never believed anything I said to her." She stood up and shoved her hands into the pockets of her black winter jacket. "Well, we should be going back now. Class is probably about to start soon, if I'm right. See you later, I guess." She started to walk back to the direction of the school's buildings.

And as I stared at her retreating form, I couldn't help but feel the guilt weigh heavily on my shoulders at the thought of kissing her boyfriend behind her back.


	18. Chapter 17

_**Author's Note: I was wrong, you guys were right. And, Dictionary . com was also wrong! Sympathy is pity, yes it is. Dictionary . com lied to me and said it was shared feelings. So, thanks for correcting me for the millionth time! I should really just stop using the word entirely. It is way too confusing. **_

_**And also, happy birthday to RedDogsRun! Yay! Have a wonderful birthday! Hope you like this chapter!**_

_**You guys are just amazing with your reviews! I am in awe at them. I re-read them over and over again, and whenever I wake up for school, the only motivation I have for getting up is all of your guys' reviews! You guys are just too amazing. Thanks for them, by the way!**_

_**I have two other Percico/Pernico plots, but I think I'm going to put them on Hiatus until I finish this fanfic, since you guys pretty much tell me that you guys are dying without the updates. Haha, and I do love this fanfic as much as you guys! **_

_**Also, I wanted to read some more good Percico/Pernico fanfics, but I haven't managed to find any at all. What do you guys suggest? **_

_**And, is Nico even in character in this fanfic? I'm just kind of typing along, but I had never thought about Nico's characterization. I just wanted to check with you readers to make sure.**_

_**Also, I don't really remember how to play the violin. I played it in fifth grade, but I sucked at it. So, I don't remember how to play it. Sorry for inaccurate information about violins.**_

_**Well anyway, please enjoy the chapter! (Sorry if it's short, I had to go to sleep and I wanted to finish this for RedDogsRun's birthday!)**_

_**Note: Sorry for any kind of mistakes! I do not have an editor/beta reader, so this fanfic isn't perfect in terms of grammar, punctuation, etc. I am all on my own on this fanfic…how sad.**_

_**Warning: Homosexuality, language, child abuse, death, bullying (I'll add more along the way.) **_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. I am definitely not Rick Riordan. Also, I got the "Hades abuses Nico" idea from some fanfic…though which fanfic I got it from I don't remember. Ciao!**_

* * *

**The Violin That Started it All**

**Author: Loving Healer**

******Part One: Nico di Angelo**

**Chapter Seventeen**

* * *

It was after school. I had managed to ditch Percy for the whole day other than the morning. The other human interaction I had today was from the teachers and when I was talking to Annabeth during lunch when she had managed to find me.

But, how was I going to tell Annabeth that I kissed her boyfriend? After what she told me, I didn't want her slipping back into a type of depression again. I finally got to see what kind of person Annabeth really was, but I didn't want to ruin it. But, was keeping it from her better? No, it definitely wasn't. The outcome would be worse if Annabeth found out on her own. But, how was I supposed to tell her?

I was sitting by the tree in the park I always went to after school to play my violin. The air was still chilly, so I thought myself as crazy for being out in this weather. No one as far as I could see was at the park because it was too cold. People with brains would be in their houses with the heater on.

I slipped my fingers out my jacket's pockets, despite the cold. I reached for my black violin case and unzipped it, revealing the black violin that my mother got from my father. I couldn't believe that this was the same violin that made me meet Percy for the first time. This violin probably had magical powers installed into it or something. If that was true, then what would happen if I played the violin again? I was just thinking crazy now, though. The cold weather probably froze the common sense in my brain.

I took the bow and the violin. I placed the chinrest of the violin onto the side of my chin. I hadn't played my violin in awhile. It almost seemed like a foreign act to me while I held the bow in my dominant hand.

I stared at the four strings of the violin: G, D, A, and E. I placed my fingers onto the end of the fingerboard, and I placed the bowstring onto the A string—the third string from the left—and ran it down, creating a sound that wasn't too high-pitched, but it wasn't too low either. The sound that I just created almost seemed foreign to me too.

I didn't know how, but my brain went on autopilot. I began to play my mother's serenade—a song I always played whenever I was thinking about her death. But, I wasn't thinking about her, so why did I even start playing it in the first place? I did love the melody of the song; I didn't just play it because it reminded me of my mother. It was a sad and slow melody. It was a song that I memorized by heart, and it was a song that I made up from the top of my head when I was twelve.

My fingers danced on each string, pressing it against the fingerboard to create a new and different tune. The bowstrings went up and down chronically in a pattern that also helped in creating the perfect piece of music that I made for my mother. I had one for Bianca as well that was similar to my mother's. Sometimes, I wondered what they would say to me if I played their serenades to them.

I heard the slightest noise and I stopped playing. I turned around and I found another unexpected sight. My eyes widened at the figure who was leaning against the tree that I sat by.

Annabeth was tightly hugging herself. She was leaning against the tree, but her whole body was tensed. She was shaking, but it wasn't from the weather. Drips of water ran down her cheeks, and I knew it wasn't raining either. She was biting her lip to stop all the tears that were flowing, but it wasn't working. Now I knew for a fact that I couldn't tell her that I kissed Percy today.

"You…you really do play well." She managed a small smile.

I only gaped at her for a few moments, before finally reacting. "My music isn't the problem right now."

"I never said it was," Annabeth pointed out with a shaky breath. "Your music is f-flawless."

I stared at her with sad eyes. "Nothing ever is, unfortunately. But, that's not the point. Why are you…?"

"Crying?" Annabeth suggested. She sniffled before replying, "I was just talking to Percy when he asked me where you were."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "And, what does my location have to do with your emotions?"

"I…well." Annabeth fidgeted in her spot. "Percy…he told me something."

I only blinked blankly at her. "What…did he say to you?"

"He told me he liked someone else," Annabeth blurted out in one breath.

My eyes enlarged in half a millisecond. "Don't tell me he—"

Annabeth shook her head. "Don't say it. I don't…I thought I should just tell you."

My hands clenched my violin and my bow tighter. "That…fucking…idiot," I said though gritted teeth.

"You sound like you know something about…Percy's actions," Annabeth surmised, wiping a few tears from her cheeks.

"Where's Percy?" I demanded, turning a furious expression onto her.

"I—" Annabeth looked shocked about my sudden behavior, but she managed to recover moments later. "He…most likely went home. Why?" Annabeth hesitantly asked.

"Because he's a _fucking_ idiot, that's why!" I yelled to absolutely no one. I took a few breathers to calm myself. "I told him not to, yet he still does it. Why doesn't he just understand?" I shoved my violin and bowstring into my violin case, grabbed my backpack, and ran off.

"Wait, Nico!" Annabeth yelled. I halted and glanced behind my shoulder, still with a furious expression written across my face. It was directed at her though; it was directed at a certain idiot. "You…you told him not to?"

"Yeah, I told him you guys belonged together, but he refused to acknowledge my opinion about it." I dashed off into the direction of Percy's house without a glance back at Annabeth.

* * *

I kicked off my shoes when I entered Percy's house, and I ran up the stairs. I threw my backpack into my room, and I set my violin case by the doorway. Even if I super furious, I didn't want to take it out on my violin.

Right when I was about to open his door, he did it for me. He stared at me with a bewildered expression. "Nico, what are you—"

I didn't let him finish. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why are you such an idiot?' I had to bite my tongue to keep myself from blurting out nonsense.

"What are you talking about?" Percy blinked at me, obviously confused.

"You know what I'm talking about!" I waved my arms in the air for emphasis. I deeply exhaled again, letting myself calm down before I spoke in a dangerously quiet voice. "Why did you tell her?" I said though gritted teeth.

"Tell—" Percy froze. "How did you—"

"Because she came up to me today and told me," I answered with a glare, biting back my anger.

Percy sighed. "Look, I know you're probably upset—"

"No shit," I grumbled.

"—but I did tell you I would deal with it. Didn't I?" Percy stepped to the side, grabbed my wrist, and pulled me into the room. He shut the door and leaned against the now closed door. "You know, I'm not too happy about what I did either."

"Then why exactly did you do it?" I spat at him.

"Because I couldn't date her without knowing that I loved someone else, that's why." Percy glanced at the floor sadly, avoiding my gaze.

My heart almost stopped. "You…you weren't kidding."

Percy stared up at me, and it looked like _he_ was the one trying to contain his anger now. "No, no I wasn't kidding. You still thought I was lying to you?"

"I just didn't think you were serious."

"And, Nico, give me a reason as to why I would lie to you about my feelings," Percy snapped at me.

"This isn't about me." I attempted to change the subject. "This is about Annabeth."

"This is _now_ about _both_ of you," Percy replied with a hint of venom.

My teeth were now tightly clenched against each other. "I told you to stay with her, yet you just go and break up with her the next day. Do I have to nail every single order I have to you into your brain?"

"I couldn't date Annabeth without ever thinking about you!" Percy yelled at me. "Whenever I see her, I think of you. Do you know how that feels?! I was pretty much mentally cheating on her! If I didn't break up with her soon, it would've become worse!"

I closed my eyes and deeply sighed. "You really were serious."

"Of course I was serious!" Now Percy was just exploding with anger. "Why didn't you believe us when we said that we want to be friends with you?! Why didn't you believe me when I said that I love you! I have really fallen in love with you, Nico. I'm not just sexually attracted to you, you know. I actually love you for who your heart with my heart. Why can't you just believe that?!"

"Because," I snarled, "nothing good ever comes out of my life anymore."

"Maybe someday it will, and today's that day," Percy shot back. "You can't just assume that everything that happens in your life will turn out to be horrible. I can tell that you're not a fortune teller! Or a psychic! So you can't just say that everything in your life is bad from this day forward! It's impossible! Everything—fucking—changes. And I know you know that! So stop saying that nothing good will ever happen!"

I gulped, and I was at a complete loss for words. I've never seen Percy like this before, and it scared me. My eyes were wide as I stared at him, trying to come up with a response.

"If you're not going to say anything, then I will." Percy stomped up to me and grabbed my chin, yanking it up so I met his gaze. "I _love_ Nico di Angelo. I love his smile. I love his sarcastic comments. I love his talent whenever he plays his violin. I love your rare laughs. I love how nice you were to me even if I friend-zoned you before. I love how kind you are to everyone even though you hate pretty much the whole world. I respect Nico di Angelo. I worry for Nico di Angelo. And, I wish I could _be_ with Nico di Angelo. Have you ever thought that I, Percy Jackson, wanted to ever be with you? Was that a possibility in your mind?"

I hesitantly shook my head. "No, I didn't think someone like you would like someone like me."

My response made Percy even angrier. "And, what am I? What are you?"

"I don't deserve a life. I'm a stupid bastard who doesn't give a shit about this world. I push everyone away, and I lie to myself for my own selfish reasons. I let myself get beaten up because I know I deserve it.

"You, on the other hand, have a greater chance of succeeding in life than someone as low as me. You have friends, and you don't have to worry about anything other than grades and shit. Sure you had an abusive step-father, but at least you had support. Me, on the other hand, had absolutely no one. I had to deal with bullies at school, my father, and my mother's and my sister's deaths all at once! For _five fucking years_! Do you even know how I feel about that?!"

I was silenced with a passionate kiss onto my lips, and my heart started pounding in my chest. My eyes were wide as Percy's other arm went around my waist and pushed us together. I unconsciously wrapped my arms around his neck, and I ended up deepening the kiss. Don't ask me why, I didn't know why. It just felt…_right_. We felt together like a puzzle piece, and I liked how I felt now, with crazy pterodactyls flying in my stomach. I felt like the horrible world that I was carrying was suddenly lifted off. And, it was all because of this one kiss.

I stopped the kiss, but Percy rested his forehead against mine as we panted for breath. We were still in the same position, and I had to stand on my toes to actually reach eye-level with him.

He smiled at me. "So, I guess that settles it, huh?"


	19. Chapter 18

_**Author's Note: 109 reviews you guys are absolutely amazing! You guys mean so much to be you don't even know. **_

_**And guys! I decided to make a "part 2" to this fanfic! And the interesting part is, it'll be in Percy's point of view! How exciting is that? I decided to make a part 2 because I wanted a Percy POV somewhere, and because I didn't want to add too many chapters.**_

_**I also found out that Silena's hair is supposed to be black, and not blonde. Oops, I might go change that. But for now, I guess I'll keep it blonde.**_

_**And I also wrote the beginning of this chapter during Algebra and Spanish, so at the same time I was trying to listen to the teacher's instructions, so I hope the beginning isn't too bad. **_

_**And sorry if this chapter is kind of horrible, I had zero inspiration today. So, sorry for the short chapter and everything!**_

_**Well, that's all I've got to say, happy reading! (I hope Nico's characterization isn't horrible either.)**_

_**Note: Sorry for any kind of mistakes! I do not have an editor/beta reader, so this fanfic isn't perfect in terms of grammar, punctuation, etc. I am all on my own on this fanfic…how sad.**_

_**Warning: Homosexuality, language, child abuse, death, bullying (I'll add more along the way.) **_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. I am definitely not Rick Riordan. Also, I got the "Hades abuses Nico" idea from some fanfic…though which fanfic I got it from I don't remember. Ciao!**_

* * *

**The Violin That Started it All**

**Author: Loving Healer**

******Part One: Nico di Angelo**

**Chapter Eighteen**

* * *

I blinked blankly at him. "Seriously? But…but what about Annabeth?"

"I'll talk to her about it," Percy reassured.

"No, you are not," I objected. "Last time you said that you would 'deal with it', Annabeth is now in tears."

Percy sighed, probably mentally agreeing with me. "Look, I'll try to reason with her. I know Annabeth, and she won't take it horribly if I explain everything to her and how it happened. Sure she'll be hurt, but it's better if she understands."

"Wait," I said, "when you said 'explain everything', does that mean you're going to…?"

Percy shook his head. "I'll try to leave it out."

"Well, you can tell if you want," I stated. "She told me about her life, and I needed to tell her mine anyway. And also, we should wait for her to recover a bit before we throw all of this at her. And, I need to get used to this as well."

Percy raised an eyebrow. "Get used to what?"

I shrugged. "Even if I am in love with you," my lips tilted downward at what I just said out loud, "I'm not…ready to be with you, I guess. I don't know, this is a very awkward topic for me." I sighed.

Percy smiled, released one of his arms that were around my waist, and patted my head. "Don't worry; I got the gist of it."

I swatted his hand away. "I'm not a dog," I grumbled.

Percy chuckled in amusement. "Yeah, yeah, I got it."

"But," I started, "are you sure?" I narrowed my eyes at him.

Percy arched an eyebrow. "Sure about what?" I gave him a few moments until the gears started to turn in his head. "About…about us? Why wouldn't I?"

I frowned at him. I sighed and pulled my forehead away from his. "I still think you're making a huge mistake about being with me. I'm not very convinced."

Percy exasperatedly sighed. His grip around my waist tightened. "Just you wait, Nico." There was a determined glint in his emerald green eyes. "I'll show you how much I actually want to be with you." He smiled at me. "I really do love you, and I'll show you just how much I really do. I'd announce to the whole world my love for you."

"_Uh_," I awkwardly began, "don't do that."

Percy gave a small laugh. "I won't if you don't want me to. But, I am serious about it."

I raised an eyebrow. "You're serious about announcing your love for me to the whole world?"

Percy chuckled. "I am serious about that, but that's not what I meant. I meant that I'm serious about showing you how much I really love you. To tell you the truth, I want to stay in this position with you forever."

"Well, standing forever would be pretty uncomfortable." The red spreading across my face was pretty evident.

Percy smirked and whispered into my ear. His warm breath sent shivers down my spine. "Then, maybe you would want to stay in this position with me in bed? A little less clothes wouldn't hurt either."

I gritted my teeth, not from anger, but from embarrassment from the deepening red across my face. "I hate you so much."

"I love you too, Nico." Percy smirked by the side of my face.

I was prepared to push Percy away from me and hide in my room forever, but Percy wouldn't budge. In fact, he pulled our bodies together even closer than they were before. And I didn't think that was possible.

"Percy, let go," I demanded weakly. To be honest, I really liked the position we were in too. But for one, I hated my growing erection, and two, I hated my deepening blush. I hid my face into the crook of Percy's neck.

Apparently Percy noticed my growing erection. "You want me to take care of that for you? I'd be most obliged to help you."

I stepped on his foot. "I—fucking—hate—you."

Percy laughed. "Come on, Nico. I know you love me."

I rolled my eyes, even if he couldn't see my face. And we stayed like that until I found out that Percy fell asleep on me.

* * *

Today was now Tuesday. Percy and I were walking up to school. I finalized with him in the morning that I would give him a chance unless Annabeth agrees. I didn't want to hurt Annabeth if I was with Percy. He was a bit shocked by my desire, but he agreed with it.

He said that he'd talk to Annabeth about it today, but I was kind of afraid of what the outcome might be, and how Annabeth would react. Would she hate me for stealing her ex-boyfriend? I'm not sure if I wanted her to hate me or not. I mean, I used to push people away, but now I was afraid of Annabeth leaving me. Did I really change that much ever since I met Percy and the others?

Once I stepped onto the school campus, I was bear-tackled by, of course, Silena.

"Nico! I haven't seen you in forever!"

"You haven't seen me for a day," I pointed out. "Have you been waiting until I got here?"

"Yes, yes I have. And, that's still a long time." Even if I couldn't see her, I could tell that she was pouting.

"Hey, Silena," Percy began, rubbing the back of his neck, "Nico knows."

"He does?!" Silena pulled away from me with her eyes wide at Percy.

I blinked blankly at the two of them. "I know what?"

"That I like you," Percy answered me.

"Oh," I flatly replied. I almost forgot Silena knew about Percy's crush on me.

Silena's eyes twinkled. "You know?!" Silena faced me and shook my shoulders. "What did you say?!"

I put my hands on Silena's shoulders so that she would stop shaking me. "Please don't do that to me ever again." I felt a little dizzy but I told her. "I said I would go out with Percy unless Annabeth agrees." That was pretty much the summary of what happened between Percy and me.

Silena squealed and jumped up and down, her hands still gripped my shoulders. "Oh my god! Really? Really, really, really really, really?!"

Percy rolled his eyes at Silena's behavior. "Only if Annabeth agrees."

Silena stopped jumping. "I totally forgot about that." She glanced at Percy. "What are you going to do about Annabeth?"

I raised an eyebrow. "You didn't hear?"

"Hear what?" Silena stared curiously at me."

"Well, _um_," I started, "Percy broke up with Annabeth yesterday."

Silena's eyes went wide. "You did what?!" Her gaze instantly landed on Percy.

Percy looked away with regret in his eyes. "I know."

I sighed. "Percy, I already told you, you didn't have to—"

"I wanted to, Nico. Even if I had to hurt Annabeth," Percy muttered.

"You should've just stayed with her, you know." I glanced at Percy, who had his fists shoved deep into his jeans pockets.

Percy shook his head. "I don't think I would've been able to stay with her without thinking of you the whole time." He glanced up at Silena and me. "I have to go talk to Annabeth about it. See you guys later, I guess." He walked away towards the direction Annabeth was most likely in.

Silena stared at Percy's retreating form with a sympathetic look. "I hope everything goes well between them. The last thing I want is for their friendship to break up as well. Before they started dating, they were really good friends."

I nodded, looking at Percy's back. "I hope so too."

Silena glanced back at me. "So, do you really love Percy too?"

I looked at her from the corner of my eyes. "I've liked him since I first saw him, which was before we met. I fell in actual love with him, well, I never knew when. I just kind of…did."

"Wow." Silena smiled. "That's good to hear. Percy was afraid of confessing to you."

I turned my head to her and raised an eyebrow. "And, why was that?"

Silena smiled sympathetically, but she was staring at nothing in particular. The events were most likely playing through her head. "Well, it took so long to become friends with you, you know. And, when Percy found out he fell in love with you at one point, he was afraid of breaking the friendship he had with you if he confessed to you. He was planning on keeping it to himself. When he told me, I advised him to confess to you. It's better than not telling you at all, right? He was also afraid of what his friends might think of him. He was thinking whether or not his friends would think he was a freak for suddenly liking a guy." Silena shook her head. "Percy can be such an idiot sometimes."

"You mean all the time," I corrected her. I couldn't even believe Percy went through all of this when he fell in love with me. He seemed to act so…_him_. He didn't seem like he had any problems, when actually, he did. Was he trying to hide his problems so that no one would worry about him?

She giggled. "I guess that it true. Well, do you want to go back to the others now?"

I shrugged and shoved my fists into my jeans pockets. "You can if you want."

"Then…what would you do?" Silena asked.

This reminded me of that time when I snuck away from the group on Friday at the mall and Percy found me. I shrugged at her once more. "I'll probably go to that tree I always go to on the field."

Silena smiled. "Then, I'll come with you!"

I cocked up an eyebrow again. "I thought you were going back to the others."

Silena tilted her head to the side. "When did I ever say that? I only asked if you wanted to go back to them."

I sighed. "I guess you're right. Let's go then."

Silena grinned and linked her arm with mine while pulling me towards the direction of the field.

* * *

When we got to the tree that I always hung around at to be alone, I found Annabeth sitting there. Her knees were brought up to her chest, and her arms were wrapped around her legs. Her head was buried into her knees, and I couldn't tell if she was crying or not. Did Percy already talk to her about it?

"Annabeth?" Silena asked, getting Annabeth's attention. Silena glanced at me, and I could tell that she was wondering the same thing.

She glanced up at us, and I could see dry tear tracks along her cheeks.

"What's wrong?" I hesitantly asked.

Annabeth stretched out her legs, letting her hands fall into her lap. "Just…thinking about Percy and when he broke up with me."

"Did Percy talk to you today?" Silena ventured.

Annabeth shook her head. "No, I was trying to avoid Percy today. I don't think I could handle seeing him for a little bit. I figured he wouldn't find me here, but you guys found me instead."

I shrugged. "Well, I'm always here, so what did you expect?"

Annabeth gave a small smile, staring down at her lap. "I guess that is true. Was Percy looking for me?"

Silena and I glanced at each other, unsure of what to reply to that question.

"_Um_, yeah, he was," Silena reluctantly answered.

Annabeth nodded. "Are you going to take me to him then?"

I shook my head, even if Annabeth wasn't looking at me. "I'll just wait and see if Percy could find you. If not, then I'll tell him where you are."

Annabeth nodded again. "Okay. I just…need some time for myself. Is that all right? I was just trying to come up with a conclusion."

Silena nodded. "Sure, we'll give you some space, we understand. But, if I may ask, what kind of conclusion are you trying to come up with?"

Annabeth sighed. "Well, when Percy broke up with me, he told me he loved someone else. So, I was trying to figure out who that 'someone else' is."

My eyes became wide, and I could tell Silena's eyes did the same.

"Did you ever find out who that 'someone else' is?" Silena hesitantly asked.

Annabeth shook her head. "No, not yet. I'm still thinking."

I felt Silena's shoulders un-tense. I didn't even realize they were tensed. I also let out a breath that I didn't know I was holding.

Annabeth stared up at us and we instantly froze under her gaze. She raised an eyebrow. "Are you guys okay?"

Silena nervously chuckled. "Shouldn't we be asking that question to you?"

Annabeth shrugged and stared at the space of the field in front of her, leaning her back against the tree. "I guess."

"Hey, Annabeth," I started, grabbing the gray-eyed girl's attention, "do you want me to tell you about my past?"

Silena's head whipped towards mine. "You were planning on telling her your past?!"

I nodded. "Yeah. She told me her past; it's only fair if I did."

Silena raised an eyebrow. "Annabeth, you had a bad past?"

Now it was my turn to raise an eyebrow at Annabeth. "You didn't tell Silena about your past?"

Annabeth shook her head. "Jason only knows, remember?"

"Oh yeah," I said, suddenly remembering when Annabeth said that she's only told Jason and me.

"Jason knows?" Silena's head cocked to the side.

Annabeth nodded. "Yeah. And, Nico, you don't have to tell me."

I shook my head. "It's only fair. And anyway, you seem like you need something to help you. Maybe my past might help you." I shrugged. "Who knows? This seems like the time to tell you anyway."

Silena unlinked her arm from mine and took the seat next to Annabeth. I seated myself in front of the two girls.

Before I was about to speak and start my story, Annabeth spoke up first. "Wait a second. Percy has been spending an awful lot of time with you, right?" She directed at Silena.

Silena blinked a few times at Annabeth. "Well, yeah, why?"

"And, about a week ago, you guys didn't talk alone together a lot, didn't you?" Annabeth asked Silena.

I saw Silena gulp. "_Um_, well, no." Her voice was very audible. She was either scared of getting interrogated by Annabeth, or she knew where this was leading to.

"And about a week ago was when we met, you, wasn't it?" She directed at me this time.

I didn't know if I even wanted to answer that. But, I had to sooner or later. "Yeah, it was."

"So, Percy suddenly starts talking to the 'giver of love advice' a few days after he meets Nico. Isn't that suspicious?" Annabeth asked both of us.

"_Um_," Silena drawled, "I…guess."

Annabeth sighed. "I think I finally found out the answer to my question." She stared at me with an unreadable gaze. "So, tell me, Nico."

I didn't want to know what answer she came up with to her question, but her question to me answered it all.

Annabeth's lips thinned into a straight line as she stared at me. "Has Percy ever confessed his love to you yet?"


	20. Chapter 19

_**Author's Note: Don't you guys just love it whenever I leave a cliffhanger for you guys? I know, I know, I try.**_

_**And sorry if this chapter is a little bad, I wrote the beginning of it during study hall in school today, hah. **_

_**And, of course, I'm not sure if I calculated the days right for this fanfic, so I hope it's right. The date for them is January 25th…right?**_

_**And, it's so hot that I now have a headache. So, once again, I have zero inspiration. ZEROOO! 105 degrees is KILLING me! **_

_**I seriously just procrastinated for three hours when I was in the process of making this chapter. Make—the—degrees—go—down—by—a million please. IT'S FUCKING ELEVEN AT NIGHT NOW AND IT'S SEVENTY DEGREES OUTSIDE KILL ME IT'S NOT EVEN SUMMER YET. Well, at least my headache is gone now. **_

_**Well, please enjoy the chapter…I guess? (Is Annabeth and Nico out of character in this?) And, sorry for such a short chapter! **_

_**Note: Sorry for any kind of mistakes! I do not have an editor/beta reader, so this fanfic isn't perfect in terms of grammar, punctuation, etc. I am all on my own on this fanfic…how sad.**_

_**Warning: Homosexuality, language, child abuse, death, bullying, break-ups (I'll add more along the way.) **_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. I am definitely not Rick Riordan. Also, I got the "Hades abuses Nico" idea from some fanfic…though which fanfic I got it from I don't remember. Ciao!**_

* * *

**The Violin That Started it All**

**Author: Loving Healer**

******Part One: Nico di Angelo**

**Chapter Nineteen**

* * *

I gritted my teeth, and my heart clenched. What was I supposed to say? I didn't even know what to do. I didn't want to lie to her, but I didn't want to make her sad. Was this how Percy and Silena felt when they tried to become friends with me, but I kept trying to push them away?

But, why did I care whether Annabeth would continue to be my friend or not? Didn't I push everyone away from me? Why did I even want friends? When…when did I change? Was it when I met Percy at the tree in the park? Was it when Silena declared that she wouldn't stop trying to become friends with me? When did I start caring about having friends anyway?

Silena glanced at me with an expression that could be read as desperate, curious, but hopeful. I couldn't be sure what she wanted me to answer, but since it was Silena, I guessed that she wanted me to tell the truth to Annabeth. It was at least better than lying.

I sighed and looked Annabeth in the eyes. "Yeah, he did."

Annabeth nodded, her expression still unreadable. "I see." She crossed her ankles and sighed, looking up at the cold gray sky. "How weird," She said, "that the sky is reflecting my current feelings." One single tear rolled down her cheek.

"I'm…sorry," I apologized. Apologizing was something that I rarely did, and the words that left my mouth felt unreal.

Annabeth glanced at me from the corner of her eyes. "What are you apologizing for?"

"I…" I started, but I wasn't really sure what to say. Why was I apologizing? "It's…it's my fault for making Percy like me, isn't it?"

Annabeth closed her eyes and lightly sighed. She reopened them and turned her body towards me, sitting Indian style. "You were just being yourself. You can't control how you really act."

"Then, whose fault is it?" Silena decided to speak up.

It took a while for Annabeth to respond, as she was deep in thought, thinking of an answer to Silena's question. She inhaled. "No one's. It's no one's fault. You can't control how you feel towards something or someone. Percy broke up with me because he likes someone else. I can't control that. Nico can't control it. And Percy can't control it. The only way Percy could 'control' his feelings is if he wasn't honest with them."

"Honest with whom?" Silena wondered out loud. "Honest with you and Nico?"

Annabeth shook her head in response. "Honest with his own feelings. The only way to control his feelings is if he lied about how he felt to himself and everyone else that asked him. And, that's not even considered as controlling them." She grasped her ankles with her hands. "And, it couldn't have been my fault either. I can't control how I feel about Percy. It's just how I feel. Like Percy, I can only control them unless I'm not honest with my feelings. It's just how it is.

"Nico couldn't have been at fault either, whether he likes Percy back or not, because of his feelings not being able to be kept under control. And, I know Nico wasn't trying to impress Percy in any way, because he the way he acts around Percy is the same way he acts around me. So, he's not trying to impress Percy. He was just being himself. And Percy just couldn't control his feelings."

"You are the new Aristotle, Annabeth," I commented in awe at everything she just explained.

Annabeth gave a small laugh. "Thanks, I guess." She sighed. "I feel a bit better now after all of that, knowing that it's no one's fault. But, I'm still a bit hurt." She glanced up at me. "Do you like Percy back? As in the same way he does?"

I gulped. The truth was always better than lying. I had to keep reminding myself that. "Yeah, I do."

Annabeth nodded, her gaze shifting towards the ground she sat upon. "I see."

"You know," I began, "I wasn't going to start dating Percy unless you wanted me to."

Annabeth looked up at me once more. "You're asking for my approval?"

I nodded. "I am."

"Isn't it your love life?" Annabeth asked.

I slightly nodded. "It is, I guess. But, if me dating Percy made you feel miserable, then I wasn't going to do it."

"Have you heard of the saying Annabeth?" Silena swung an arm around Annabeth's shoulders. "Chicks before dicks!" Silena laughed. "That is pretty much what Nico's saying to you!"

Annabeth actually managed to laugh as well. "I guess you're right." She said, still smiling from laughing. "But, I don't want to stop you from dating who you wish to date. I don't want to be that kind of friend anyway." Annabeth's smile widened at me. "Go ahead. Though, I probably won't be able to face Percy anytime soon without punching him in the face." Silena giggled at that. "So, can you guys do me a favor and not tell him that I'm hanging around here?"

"Sure!" Silena immediately agreed. "No problem, Annabeth." She got up and looked down at Annabeth. "Get better soon, okay?"

"You make it sound like she's sick." I rolled my eyes, getting up from my spot on the ground in front of Annabeth. "And, _uh_—"

"You're welcome," Annabeth replied before I even finished. "You don't seem like the type of guy to thank people…or apologize."

I shoved my fists into my jeans pockets. "Yeah, pretty much. You know people well too well. I've only know you for about a week."

Annabeth shrugged. "It's my specialty. Are you guys going to tell Percy that it's…official?" She said it with reluctance.

I sighed. "Listen, if you don't want me to—"

"No, it's fine." Annabeth sighed. "I just…need to get over it, that's all. I can't completely get over my feelings, since I can't control them, so I might as well try to make myself feel better and think optimistic."

"If you want optimistic, go to Silena," I advised. Silena only giggled and linked her arm with mine.

Silena smiled at Annabeth—not that she was smiling already. "Well, get better, Annabeth!"

Annabeth nodded. "I'll try. And, well, I guess, good luck with him, Nico."

I nodded. "_Er_, thanks," I mumbled.

And Silena dragged me by the arm to wherever Percy was.

* * *

"Where is he?!" Silena whined as we walked around the school campus. It's been approximately ten minutes, and we still couldn't find Percy.

I shrugged. "I already told you, why don't we go to all the places Annabeth usually goes to, since Percy's looking for Annabeth anyway?"

Silena shook her head. "The only other places Percy would guess would be the library. And, it doesn't take ten minutes to try and find Annabeth in the library!"

I sighed. "Then, where would Percy go?"

"_Um_," Silena started, trying to think back, "Percy would usually be where Annabeth was."

"Well, that's just great," I grumbled.

"What are you guys doing?"

We spun around and found Jason and Leo, who were leisurely walking towards us.

"Hi, Jason! Hi, Leo!" Silena greeted once they closed the distance between us.

"Hey," Jason greeted back. "You know, class starts in about five minutes. You should probably start walking there now."

Silena sighed. "I know, but, we're trying to find Percy."

"Percy?" Leo raised a curious eyebrow. "He was walking towards the field, muttering something about Kronos and Gaea world domination—"

Jason shoved Leo in the shoulder, while Leo began to make his famous amused grin. "He was _not_ muttering about world domination with crowns and G's or whatever you just said."

"Crowns and G's? You could probably make better jokes than me, Jason." Leo smirked. "Although, no one could look as hot as me. Sorry about that." That earned Leo another shove in the shoulder. Leo only laughed. "Come on, Jason. Are you jealous?"

Jason rolled his eyes. "Anyway, forget what Leo just said. He was walking to the field while talking to himself, saying something about Annabeth and 'breaking it off', whatever that means."

Silena's and my head whipped towards each other in shock.

"He's already going to the field?!" Silena shrieked.

Jason frowned. "Yeah. Did something happen?"

I already knew that Silena was a horrible liar, so I took her place instead. "No, nothing's wrong. Silena's just being overdramatic. We wanted to walk to class together, since you said it starts in five minutes or so, but we couldn't find Percy anywhere. And, the field's pretty far from here anyway."

"Oh, then you guys should hurry," Jason advised. "We'll see you later then."

"Yeah, see you guys!" Leo smiled at us. "Leo out!"

Jason rolled his eyes once again as Silena dragged me by the arm—since her arm was still linked with mine—and whispered in my ear, "Thank you!"

"No problem," I replied. "Now, let's just go find Percy before those now-four minutes are over."

We ended up breaking into a full-blown sprint towards the direction of the field.

* * *

When we got to the field, we scanned it as fast as humanly possible, until we found a figure wearing a blue hoodie, blue jeans, and black windswept hair.

"Percy!" Silena panted. She sprinted up to Percy at the speed of lightning and tackled him from behind and onto the ground. I rested my palms onto my knees to keep myself up, and panted for breath. We almost ran across the whole school campus. I felt as if I participated in the Olympics.

"Woah!" Percy exclaimed. "Get off!"

Silena got off and helped Percy up. "We've been looking for you for _ages_!" She exclaimed, dusting herself off.

Percy eyes soon landed on me. He looked me up and down and his eyes widened. I wasn't sure why he was staring at me like that, but I soon found out by the slight discoloration of his face. I raised an eyebrow at him and he quickly looked in any other direction but me.

"Sorry, I was just looking for Annabeth. What were you guys doing?" Percy glanced at Silena, intentionally avoiding me. "And, I thought _I_ was the one in the football team, not you Silena."

Silena sighed and rolled her eyes at Percy's last comment, with a small smile perched upon her lips. "We went to go talk to Annabeth," Silena answered.

"Annabeth? You guys already found her?" Percy asked. "I still need to talk to her about—"

"Save your breath," I interrupted, making Percy glance at me. His face became a deeper shade of red, which amused me a lot. I wiped at the sweat dripping down my face and realized just what he was imagining that involved me being really sweaty. I sighed, realizing that my own face was becoming a light red. "We already talked to Annabeth about it."

"R-really?" Percy stuttered, and I could pretty much see that he was mentally cursing himself for stuttering. "What did she say?"

"She said it was fine," Silena answered for me. "Though, she's still a bit hurt. And, she doesn't want to see you until she recovers a bit."

Percy nodded. "She handled it way better than what I expected."

"She probably would've reacted worse if _you_ were the one that found her first," I said. "But nonetheless, we stopped you before you found her. Thankfully."

Percy nodded. "I feel bad for just leaving Annabeth like that though."

Silena rested her hand on one of Percy's shoulders. "She'll be fine. Annabeth's strong, we both know she is. Nico's known her for a week, and I bet he already knows that." I nodded to confirm Silena's statement. "She wouldn't argue over something that no one could control."

Percy raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about? I was the one that broke up with her, so I started it all."

"There was a long conversation about that," I informed. "But for now, that's not very important."

"So…let me get this straight: Annabeth said it was okay?" Percy recapped.

"Yeah." I nodded. "Though, you should give her some space."

Percy nodded. "Yeah, I got it."

"January twenty-fifth!" Silena squealed. "I need to mark this on my calendar!"

I arched an eyebrow at her. "What are you talking about?"

"Yeah," Percy agreed, "you sound crazy right now, Silena."

"Come on, guys!" SIlena said. "You guys can't be _that_ oblivious."

Percy and I blinked blankly at her.

"I still don't know what you're talking about," Percy informed with a sigh and a shake of his head.

"Oh," I flatly said, finally realizing what Silena was referring to.

Silena grinned at me. "This is a very important date, Nico! You better remember it!"

"Wait," Percy began, "I still don't know what you guys are talking about."

I sighed. "Well, Annabeth said it was okay for us to date, right?"

Percy blinked at me for a few moments, the statement processing in his brain. I could tell he finally got it when he smiled. "I guess it's January twenty-fifth."

I nodded, a small smile actually making its appearance on my face. "January twenty-fifth, the day you and I finally started dating."


	21. Chapter 20

_**Author's Note: No, I did not die if that's what you guys are wondering. Sorry, I got addicted to another video game called "Samurai Warriors 3", so I've been playing that for the past four days. I have not even touched my computer since. So, updates would be getting slower from now on. Ugh, I'm so sorry! I was also going to type earlier, but it took me two hours to find The Demigod Diaries but hey, I finally got it! It was so worth it.**_

_**It has taken 20 chapters until they finally got together. TWENTY MOTHERFUCKING CHAPTERS. God I have anger issues today. **_

_**Well, anyway, I was wondering where Percy's and Nico's first date should be. Do you guys have any ideas? I was going to make it the beach, but, you know, it's January in this fanfic. So that idea just flew right out the window.**_

_**I'm not even halfway done until this fanfic is over. Probably when I get to part two where Percy's POV starts is when I get halfway through. And believe me, in my head that is a LONGGG way off. Though, I should be grateful for that. I'd hate leaving this fanfic. This fanfic means so much to me I love it so much. I think I might re-read the whole entire fanfic once I finish. **_

_**And Keri89, your birthday is June 25th?! That's the day I get out of school! I know, I get out of school really late. It sucks! And yeah, Nico is a little sentimental, but this fanfic would go nowhere if he wasn't just a bit sentimental. I try to keep them in character, I really do. **_

_**Also, fun fact: The short story called "Percy Jackson and the Sword of Hades" is actually a real short story made by Rick Riordan in the book The Demigod Files. I just finished that book today, and that short story was my favorite!**_

_**And also, this chapter once you get to the middle is kind of confusing. But, I hope you guys are able to follow along.**_

_**Well, that's all I've got to say. So, please enjoy the chapter! (It seems like such a long time since I last typed, even though it was like 5 days).**_

_**Note: Sorry for any kind of mistakes! I do not have an editor/beta reader, so this fanfic isn't perfect in terms of grammar, punctuation, etc. I am all on my own on this fanfic…how sad.**_

_**Warning: Homosexuality, language, child abuse, death, bullying, break-ups (I'll add more along the way.) **_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. I am definitely not Rick Riordan. Also, I got the "Hades abuses Nico" idea from some fanfic…though which fanfic I got it from I don't remember. Ciao!**_

* * *

**The Violin That Started it All**

**Author: Loving Healer**

**Part Two: Nico di Angelo**

**Chapter Twenty**

* * *

After school when Percy and I walked home together, it was kind of awkward for me. I mean, what would he do now that we were dating? I felt too nervous to make the first move, and I didn't know what Percy would do. I know, it was pathetic how I felt nervous, but I couldn't help it. I've never dated anyone in my life. It was the first time I've ever felt so close to someone that I could trust with all of my heart. Silena was also another person I could fully trust, but as you guys already know, I was gay, so I didn't feel any attraction to her.

When we were in the middle of walking home, my eyes found its way to the house on the opposite side of the street. My eyes unfocused as so many things came rushing back into my head. My lips involuntarily tilted downward at the thoughts. I wasn't even _born_ at that house, yet I had so many memories made there. So many that were horrible and wretched. I'd rather be looking at the house that I was actually born out, but that meant I would be thinking about the good memories I had with my deceased mother and sister.

Someone grabbed me and squeezed my hand, and I already guessed who it was. I glanced at Percy, who gave me a reassuring smile. I didn't even realize it, but I stopped walking just to stare at the house.

Percy followed my gaze towards the house, then he glanced back at me. "Are you okay, Nico?" He squeezed my hand once more in his.

I nodded. "Yeah, sorry for stopping."

Percy shook his head. "You don't have to apologize." Percy flashed me a smile. "Now, come on. Let's go back to your better home."

"Yeah, my third home of my life," I grumbled.

Percy chuckled. "Yeah, let's hope this is your second-to-last one."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Why second-to-last?"

"Because your last house will be when you and I move out together." Percy winked before turning away and dragging me by my hand to the direction of his house. I could only gape at him, stumbling on my feet when Percy started to drag me, before I regained by balance. I sighed, but I continued to follow Percy behind him, with my fingers intertwined with his.

* * *

When we opened the door, Paul's voice from the couch almost made me jump out of my skin.

"So, something happen at school?"

I could feel Percy restraining to jump back as well, but he only stared at Paul and raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

I glanced at Paul and saw that he was reading _The Demigod Files_ by Rick Riordan. I wondered what that book was about.

Paul chuckled under his breath. "You both are holding hands. Were you afraid that Nico was going to run away, Percy?"

Percy blushed deeply, and I turned away to hide my blush that was threatening to spread across my face. I was expecting Percy to rip his hand away, but he didn't. Why didn't he?

I could see in the corner of my eyes Percy rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. "_Uh_, yeah," He smiled, despite the deep red blush across his face, "yeah, we are dating actually. It just happened today."

Paul smirked, setting his hands back into his lap. "So, tell me, boys. Who asked who out?"

I didn't even think Percy's face could get anymore red, but it did. "You—you are just unbelievable, Paul!" Percy attempted to glare at Paul, but it certainly didn't work.

Paul chuckled and held his hands up in defense. One of his hands was still holding onto the book, and the inside of the book had a bunch of words, but the only one I could make out was part of the title at the top: _and the Sword of Hades_. The other two words I couldn't read, but I swear it said "Perry Jorhson". I feel as if I were hallucinating now. Maybe I blushed so much that I couldn't read right. "Perry Jorhson" just seemed like a ridiculous name. What was Rick Riordan thinking when he thought of the name anyway?

"I was joking, just joking, Percy. Although, from your reaction, I'm guessing that you asked Nico out," Paul surmised.

Percy could only glare at the ground, as if he were to say: _Why did you do this to me, Ground? I trusted you._

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself, and attempted to make my blush disappear (which barely worked). "Yeah, so we're going out. Long story, but yeah, it happened before school started."

Paul nodded. "I see. What happened to—never mind." I could tell he was going to ask about Annabeth, but I could also guess that he knew Percy well enough to know that he wouldn't cheat on her. So, Paul probably made the guess that Percy broke up with Annabeth, and it would be unwise to ask Percy of such a thing as a break-up.

Percy raised an eyebrow, totally oblivious to what Paul was about to ask. His blush finally disappeared—a little. "Well, we'll be upstairs. Do you know where Mom is?"

Paul nodded. "She went to the grocery store to buy a few things. Were you going to tell her about _this_?" He made a giant circle around us with the hand holding his book to gesture what "this" meant.

Percy nodded and smiled in slight embarrassment. "Well, yeah, I was. Do you think she'd be okay with it?"

Paul sighed. "Do you not know your mother, Percy? She'd agree with anything as long as it was healthy, and as long as you were happy with it. In this case, you seem to be very happy with Nico."

Percy's blush started to come back. "Yeah, well, thanks, Paul."

Paul nodded once again. "Of course, anytime. You boys go have fun." Before we turned around to head up the stairs, Paul gave us a warning when he cocked up an eyebrow. "No too much fun, though. I don't want to hear any loud moaning. You can moan about how much homework you have though, that I can understand."

I tried to keep a straight face (which failed), but Percy's face was priceless. Percy rapidly dragged me towards the direction of his room up the stairs. I could hear Paul laughing to himself from the living room as we made our way up the stairs.

* * *

When we made our way up the stairs and into Percy's room, Percy closed the door and pressed his back up against it. Our fingers were still intertwined tightly together, despite Paul's last "warning".

He ran his free hand through his hair. "I can't believe Paul just said that to me."

"I'm not sure whether to feel sympathy or to laugh," I joked.

Percy shot me a weak glare. "Wow, thanks, Nico."

I shrugged. "Whatever you say."

"That was sarcasm."

"I realized."

Percy just rolled his eyes, dragging me to the edge of his bed. I anticipated in sitting next to him on the edge of his bed, but I ended up in Percy's lap instead. He wrapped his arms and around me and set his chin on my shoulder. I decided to avoid all eye contact from his whatsoever.

I could pretty much hear Percy smirking. "You're trying not to blush, aren't you?"

"Shut up, Percy," I huffed.

* * *

[[a look at another place in Percy's house]]

* * *

Sally unlocked the door and came inside, carrying three bags of items she needed to buy. Her eyes landed on the couch to find Paul reading a book called _The Demigod Files_.

"Hello, Paul." Sally flashed a smile at Paul as she went to the kitchen to deposit her bags.

Paul—without glancing up from his book—replied, "Oh, welcome back, Sally. How was it out there?"

"Fine, thank you." Sally walked over to Paul, bent down, and planted a kiss on his cheek.

"You know, I have some interesting news for you." Paul glanced at the page number and closed the book. "Percy and Nico are dating now."

Sally's eyes twinkled and she smiled. "Really? When did that happen?"

"They told me that it happened before school started today," Paul answered.

Sally clapped her hands together. "Oh, that is so wonderful!" Her smile faded. "But, what happened to Annabeth?"

Paul shrugged. "I didn't really want to bring down the mood by asking them. I assume that Percy broke up with her."

Sally took the seat on the couch next to Paul. "I feel so sorry for Annabeth. The poor girl."

Paul nodded and wrapped an arm around Sally's waist and pulled her closer. "I know, I know. But, that is how life is, isn't it? Life changes all the time, and so do people."

Sally nodded. "It does, fortunately and unfortunately."

The door was soon knocked upon, drawing the attention of the couple sitting on the couch.

Sally stood up, brushed her clothes off, and proceeded to the door. She opened the door and was greeted by two muscular men in black suits, black earpieces, and black shades.

"We are here to see Nico di Angelo," the African American one on the left said.

Sally glanced at the two men. "What would you like him for, exactly?"

"Ma'am, I'm sorry to say, but this is an urgent and private family matter," The Caucasian man on the right stated.

"Family matter?" Sally questioned.

"Let us see Nico di Angelo." The African American one commanded.

"Well, how do you know he's in here?" Paul inquired from the couch with a challenging gaze.

"That is top secret, sir," The Caucasian one said.

Sally glanced worriedly at Paul. Paul sighed. "Go get Nico."

Sally—without looking back at the two men by the door—hurried up towards Nico's bedroom. She rapidly made her way up the stairs, before turning into the used-to-be guest room. The door was open ajar, and she couldn't see Nico in it. So, the only other place Nico would be in the house would be…

* * *

[[back to Percy's room]]

* * *

"So, what do you want to do today?" Percy decided to ask.

I shrugged, leaning into his embrace and glancing at him. "I don't know. It's Tuesday. What else is there to do? Homework?"

Percy sighed. "Nico, Nico, Nico. You are such a good-two-shoes."

I rolled my eyes. "Well, sorry for wanting a good grade in school. When do you do _your_ homework, exactly?"

Percy shrugged. "Whenever."

I sighed. "Of course."

There was a pause before Percy exclaimed, "Wait a second, what does that even mean?! Are you _trying_ to say something to me?"

"Maybe," I offhandedly said.

"Maybe?!"

Before I could respond, a sudden knock resounded off of the door.

"Percy?" Sally's voice called.

"Mom?" Percy grinned at the door.

"Is Nico in there?" Sally hesitantly asked. She sounded almost…scared.

"_Uh_, yeah he is." Apparently Percy could sense Sally's mood from her tone of voice as well. "Is something wrong?"

It was silent for a few moments until Sally sharply inhaled. "Just…get Nico out here, please."

Percy glanced worriedly at me. I only raised an eyebrow at the door.

I stood up and offered Percy my hand. He smiled reassuringly at me before taking the hand and bringing himself up with some of my strength. He walked toward the door and opened it with his other hand. His occupied hand was still together with mine.

* * *

Once we made our way downstairs, I surveyed the scene. Paul, who was tensed, was uncomfortably sitting on the couch where he originally was when I walked in. But at the opened door there were two unfamiliar men. They both wore the identical clothing: black suits, black, polished shoes, black shades, and black earpieces.

Both of their eyes landed on me. "Nico di Angelo, correct?"

Percy's hand around mine tightened. It took a few moments for me to respond, like I didn't even have a clue what my name was, but I soon nodded.

The two men glanced at each other, then back at me.

"We wish to speak with you, privately," The man on the right requested.

"It is an urgent matter," The man on the left added.

"You're _not_ talking to Nico without me," Percy growled. I glanced to him and so did everyone else that was present. He had an angry expression written across his face, and his teeth were tightly clenched together.

"Percy, calm down." Sally rushed to Percy's side and rested a hand on Percy's shoulder.

"Whatever those guys want with Nico, I'm not letting him go out there alone." Percy shot glares that could kill in the direction of the two men.

"They just want to _talk_, Percy. They won't hurt him," Sally reassured.

"I'm not very convinced." Percy eyed them cautiously.

I released my grip from Percy's, and he stared at me in disbelief.

"Sally's right, Percy." Even if I was hesitant, I walked to the direction of the opened door. I glanced over my shoulder at Percy and rolled my eyes, trying to stay calm. "It's just a talk. I'm not getting killed."

Percy's hand that used to hold mine tightened into a grip, but he didn't protest.

I glanced up at the two men, and they stepped away so that I could walk through. I seemingly found interest in the ground as I made my way outside.

The Caucasian man closed the door and turned to me, though he didn't say a word. He seemed to be waiting for the other one to say the first statement.

The African American one deeply inhaled. "Nico di Angelo," He spoke ever so firmly, "your father is dead."


	22. Chapter 21

_**Author's Note: School, school…oh how much I hate school. Sorry for such late updates! Also…happy late mother's day?**_

_**And guys, I didn't even think this fanfic was that good. Jeez… **_

_**Sorry for such a short chapter! I had to go to sleep for school, and I really wanted to get a chapter in by today.**_

_**Well anyway, I decided to split this fanfic into different parts. I'm planning on having four parts: **_

_**Part One: Nico di Angelo **_

_**Part Two: Nico di Angelo**_

_**Part Three: Percy Jackson**_

_**Part Four: Shit I don't know…Percy Jackson or Nico di Angelo?**_

_**I'll probably ask you guys again at the end of Part Three to see who's POV I should use for Part Four…This fanfic is going to be soooo longgg. Each part has a specific event happening in each of them, but I won't tell you because you guys might get a clue on what Part Three is after I tell you the event happening in Part One and the event happening in Part Two.**_

_**I also added Hades's death because I realized that I said he was dead at the beginning so…I had to add that in somewhere. **_

_**Also, is Percy okay in this chapter? I mean, I know Percy isn't always nice all the time, so I try to make him like that. Did I make him too mean or forceful or something in this? I don't really know. I'll leave that up to you guys to decide.**_

_**Well, on to the chapter! I know, you just love me for leaving you on a cliffhanger, don't you guys? (This government stuff I totally made it up I'm not even sure if it's right.)**_

_**Note: Sorry for any kind of mistakes! I do not have an editor/beta reader, so this fanfic isn't perfect in terms of grammar, punctuation, etc. I am all on my own on this fanfic…how sad.**_

_**Warning: Homosexuality, language, child abuse, death, bullying, break-ups (I'll add more along the way.) **_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. I am definitely not Rick Riordan. Also, I got the "Hades abuses Nico" idea from some fanfic…though which fanfic I got it from I don't remember. Ciao!**_

* * *

**The Violin That Started it All**

**Author: Loving Healer**

**Part Two: Nico di Angelo**

**Chapter Twenty-One**

* * *

My eyes instantly widened. I opened and closed my mouth several times like a fish out of water, unsure of what to say. I had mixed feelings about my father now. Now that he was dead. What was I supposed to do now? Would anything even happen in my life in the first place? I feel as if I ask way too many questions that I can't answer.

"How?" I managed to say. I mentally congratulated myself for not sounding stupid.

"I believe you can guess, Mr. di Angelo," The Caucasian one said.

I thought about that for a moment. Why did he think I could guess it? Maybe I had other people that were close to me dying the same way.

Then, it dawned on me. "A…car crash?" I surmised.

The African American one smiled, but it was filled with amusement. Why was he amused?

"Just like what he said. You are very smart," The African American one said.

"Just like what _who_ said?"

"Not important."

I raised an eyebrow, but I said nothing. So, my father died in a car crash? Just like my sister and my mother? I didn't know what to think about that. But, would that mean I would die in a car crash? I was really not looking forward to my future.

"Then, what do I do now?" I looked up at the two men that stood in front of me.

The two men glanced at each for a brief moment, before turning back to me.

"You are very strong indeed," The Caucasian one commented.

"Just like your father," The African American one added.

I raised an eyebrow. "You guys…knew my father?"

The Caucasian one nodded. "We have been keeping records of him."

My eyes widened again. "You have? But why?"

The African American one cleared his throat. "We are getting side-tracked from the topic. You are no longer allowed to stay at this residence any longer."

"Wait, what?! Why?!" I demanded.

"Mr. di Angelo," the Caucasian one began, "you must now understand that you are an orphan. As an orphan, you must be _legally_ taken into a home or family under the government. You cannot just 'move in' with another family without us knowing."

"So let me get this straight, you guys are the _government_?" My eyes felt like they were going to pop out of my eye sockets.

The Caucasian one only continued to stare me down. "Not important."

I scowled and narrowed my eyes at them. "So, what am I going to do now?" I doubted Percy's family wanted to go through all of this complicated government stuff just so they could keep me.

"Pack," The African American one simply ordered. "We will take you to an orphanage."

"What if I refuse?" My gaze on them was unwavering.

"Then you are going against the _law_, Mr. di Angelo," The Caucasian one informed.

I gritted my teeth. So this is what my life had come to…an orphanage. I really didn't want to get separated from Percy and everyone else, but I didn't want them to go through all of this shit. And, I really didn't want to meet new people at the orphanage.

I sighed in defeat and averted my gaze to the ground and the perfectly polished shoes of the two men. "Fine."

The two men nodded and took a step back, allowing me some space. I inhaled through my nose, breathed out through my mouth, and proceeded to opening the door.

* * *

Once I closed the door and looked up from it, I found Paul still on the couch, and Sally's hand resting on Percy's right shoulder. Percy was sitting in a cushioned seat adjacent to the couch. His head tipped downward toward the ground, and his elbows rested on his knees. His fingers were intertwined, and it looked as if he was deep in thought. Tyson was apparently there now, because he was leaning against Paul.

I brought everyone's attention to me once they heard me close the door. All their eyes shot up towards me as fast as lightning, and I could see that they were waiting for an explanation. I didn't want to tell them that I had to move into an orphanage, but what lie could I even tell them? I guess I could sneak out later.

I could also tell that Percy really wanted to jump up from his seat and rush towards me, but Sally's hand on his shoulder restrained him from doing so.

I gulped. Then, an idea sprang into my head.

I put on a sorrowful expression. "They…told me that my father died."

All of their eyes' widened at the news I just broke to them, but Tyson looked utterly perplexed. I guessed at age seven, you don't know what "died" is.

"Nico," Sally breathlessly said, bringing a hand up to her chest, "I'm so sorry."

I shook my head. "It's fine."

"Maybe you need some time alone," Paul suggested, grasping Tyson's hand. "Go upstairs into your room for a bit. We'll call you down for dinner."

I nodded. "Thanks." I stole a glance at Percy, but he face was unreadable. I couldn't tell if he knew I was lying or not, but I decided to keep up with my act.

I nodded at all of them before making my escape up the stairs and towards my not-my-room-anymore.

* * *

When I got up the stairs and into my room, I threw the door closed without looking back, which was the greatest mistake I made that day.

The next thing I knew, I was pushed against the wall, but not hard enough for it to hurt. Arms were found at both sides of my head, trapping me in that position. I looked up with shocked eyes at my not-going-to-be-soon boyfriend Percy Jackson.

"Percy?" I asked in bewilderment.

"Why did you lie again, Nico?" Percy's face only had one thing written across it in giant capital letters: anger.

"What are you talking about?" I decided to play innocent, straining to keep my face the same so it wouldn't reveal that Percy found out my plan.

"Don't 'what are you talking about?' to me. I know you were obviously lying," Percy snapped. "What did they really say to you?"

I gulped. Shit, Percy read me like it was right out of a book. I clenched my teeth together and stared to the side. "Why do you know me so well?" I muttered.

Percy took my chin and his hand and forced my gaze onto him. "Because I care about you, that's why. Anything else you want to ask before you tell me what they were really talking about?"

I narrowed my eyes, since I couldn't really look away from him. "I wasn't really lying."

"There's probably more to what they said then," Percy surmised. "Tell me what they said. _All of it_."

I sighed in defeat for the second time of the day. "They told me my father died in a car crash. Then, they told me that I was an orphan, and I…" I trailed off. I didn't want to say this part to Percy, or _anyone_ for that matter.

Percy's shoulders slumped as he relaxed. I guess he wanted to show me that he meant no harm.

"And you what?" Percy pressed.

I gulped once again. I wanted to stare anywhere but Percy, but Percy's hand was still grasping my chin. His hand moved its location until it began to caress my right cheek. I had the feeling Percy was either trying to comfort me, or getting ready to slap me across the face for not telling him this earlier.

"They…they told me I couldn't live here anymore. I have to move to an orphanage," I finally told him. "So, I…have to pack and leave with them now. I'm…" I still wasn't used to saying this, but I said it anyway, "sorry for not telling you earlier, Percy."

Percy stared at me for the longest time in the most unnerving silence I had ever experienced. I felt uncomfortable, and nervous. Was Percy going to be angry at me for not telling him? Would he storm downstairs and punch the two men outside? Or would he demand his parents that they go through all the government crap just so that they could keep me?

Finally, after what seemed like a millennia of silence, he asked, "Why didn't you just tell me this? Why did you decide to hide it?"

There was a pained look in his eyes that made my heart clench at the sight of it. I hated feeling like this. Warmth spread throughout my body and I knew I was going to break down soon. I bit my lip. I'd rather feel pain than sadness.

"I didn't…"

"You didn't want to live here anymore then?" Percy assumed.

My eyes widened. "What? No!" I denied with a frantic shake to my head. "No, you've got it all wrong. I want to stay here. I really do. I don't even know where the orphanage is, or how far it is from all of you."

"Then why didn't you tell me?" Percy asked again.

"Because I…didn't want you going through all of this shit anymore." I ran a nervous hand through my hair. "I mean, I know it's going to be all complicated. And, if it's just so that I could stay here, then I don't really want you guys to go through all of that. I didn't think it would be worth it. "

Another long and unnerving silence. I only waited patiently for an answer. I was too scared to even hear what Percy had to say to that.

Percy sighed. "Nico, I'd do anything for you. You know that, don't you?"

"You don't have to do this though, I'll be fine," I assured him, even though I was not prepared to going to an orphanage.

"Nico," Percy repeated, "I'm _not_ getting separated from you. We haven't even been dating for a full day. I am _not_ giving you off to an orphanage now."

I frowned. "You don't have to, you know."

"I will, Nico, just watch me." And with that last sentence hanging in the air, Percy made his way down the stairs.

I only stared at the doorway he just walked through, and I could hear his footsteps thumping against the wood of the floor as he jogged downstairs. I didn't know what Percy was going to do, but I didn't really want to know.

I glanced back at my room, wondering if I should even bother packing at all.

_No,_ I thought, _Percy always has a way of getting things. I think he'll be able to get me to stay. I hope._

I glanced back at the doorway, curious as to what Percy's plan would've been. I left out the part about the two men being from the government and whatnot, but I had a feeling Percy already knew. How he knew that was something I couldn't answer.

I closed my door and went to lay down on my bed. I shut my eyes, trying to clear my thoughts.

My whole family was dead: my sister, my mother, my father. It was like a di Angelo fate or something. Would I suffer the same fate as the rest of my family? What even happened after you died? Was there another world to live upon, but instead, as a soul instead of a living being? What even happened to the dead?

I was an orphan now. No one in my family lives anymore. I didn't even have a family, and I wasn't sure if Percy's family even considered me as part of theirs. Was Percy really that determined to keep me here?

I frowned. I made it sound like Percy was keeping me hostage. That was _definitely_ not the case.

My thoughts then led back to the two men. How did they even know my father? And who told them about me? Those two men were probably the biggest mystery of my life. This was probably how Percy felt when he first met me. Did he even think about me when he first met me? I doubted it.

After all these questions swimming through my head, my body decided to go through a deep slumber.


	23. Chapter 22

_**Author's Note: I am now officially cursed with my biggest fear—bugs and insects. Yesterday I found a fly the size of half my thumb in the shower before I went in, but when my mom checked, it wasn't there. Then, when I was showering, the fucking fly comes back! Then last night when I was sleeping, a bug crawls onto my pillow three inches from my face! Then a fucking spider crawls onto my homework and I literally screamed. Then something was crawling on my neck when I was talking to my mom just five minutes ago. Okay, who's the god/goddess of bugs? I'm going to exterminate that god/goddess…**_

_**It's my older sister's last day of school today. Ugh, lucky her. I wish it was my last day. My whole summer is going to be full of typing and videogames! Yes!**_

_**Sorry if the last chapter was so short by the way! I really regret not having it long enough /: but oh well. I'll make it up my giving you guys a longer chapter this time! **_

_**Also, I thought of a new idea for a Percico fanfic! As always, I'm only going to put up the prologue. I WILL NOT finish the other fanfics until I finish this. No matter how much I want to start the other ones, I'm not going to do it. And, since today's Friday, I figured I might get the prologue in after this chapter. **_

_**I was going to add a flashback of from Percy's POV, but that would pretty much spoil the whole mystery of Percy's feelings to Nico and etc. So, I took it out. Evil, aren't I?**_

_**BTW: if you read the warnings, something's been added. Hah, I bet you guys will like it. Also, it's my first time writing this stuff, go easy on me. I don't know how to really write it. So, I hope it's not too bad. Is it bad? I want to improve on it. **_

_**Well, I hope you guys like the chapter! (Curse Aphrodite for making me like someone I could never have). **_

_**Note: Sorry for any kind of mistakes! I do not have an editor/beta reader, so this fanfic isn't perfect in terms of grammar, punctuation, etc. I am all on my own on this fanfic…how sad.**_

_**Warning: Homosexuality, language, child abuse, death, bullying, break-ups, sexual themes (I'll add more along the way.) **_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. I am definitely not Rick Riordan. Also, I got the "Hades abuses Nico" idea from some fanfic…though which fanfic I got it from I don't remember. Ciao!**_

* * *

**The Violin That Started it All**

**Author: Loving Healer**

**Part Two: Nico di Angelo**

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

* * *

My eyes fluttered open, and I was on a different position in my bed. The room was dark now, so I guessed that it was night time. I was too tired to get up and check the time, but I wasn't tired enough to go back to sleep. I sighed quietly to myself, and that was when I realized that it wasn't just me in my bed. There was an arm wrapped around me.

Out of instinct, I shot up in my bed in alarm and glanced down at whoever was next to me in my bed. Of course, why didn't I think about it earlier? It was obviously Percy Jackson who was sleeping in my bed with me. Maybe I was just too tired to think? Well, whatever. At least I was up now.

I sighed again, but this time it was out of relief. At least there wasn't some serial killer in my bed waiting for me to wake up so that they could hear my scream before they murdered me. That would've been pretty bad.

I glanced at the clock and it read 2:07. Guess Paul never had the chance to call me down for dinner. Maybe he did, but I just didn't reply back. Percy probably told him that I fell asleep. Speaking of which, what happened when I fell asleep? Why did those two men let me stay here? Did Sally and Paul already go through all of that government crap to keep me here?

I leaned my back against the wall by my bed. I totally forgot to mention to you guys, but I got my room back. The black paint on the wall was now dry, and it almost reminded me of my own room…_almost_.

All the posters were now hung up on my wall in the places that I desired. Sally even found black, velvet curtains for the single window that I had in my room. All the furniture was pushed back to where it originally was before Percy and I painted the room. My new room seemed to have a nice aura to it. I didn't know how to explain it or where it came from, but I liked it.

Today was Wednesday the twenty-sixth. So many things happened yesterday on the twenty-fifth: the two men, Percy and I getting together, Annabeth officially acknowledging me getting together with Percy, and the news the two men gave to me. There were also three more days until it was my birthday, but I didn't really care. To be honest, I was looking forward to what Silena and Percy got me. I mean, it was something out of a jewelry store. I was _definitely_ curious as to what they got me.

I glanced at Percy's peaceful, sleeping form on the side of my bed, and his stomach slowly rising up and down. My black blanket was on half of Percy, and his hair was very bedraggled. I couldn't really tell because it was dark, but I could clearly see that he was wearing a blue-green V-neck. It was such a typical thing for Percy to wear.

Since I was thinking of Percy's clothes, I finally realized that I was still in the clothes that I wore for school the day previous. I was wearing a blank, black shirt, dark gray skinny jeans, and white socks. I sighed once more. I was too lazy to get out of bed, but if I was planning to fall back asleep, it better be in something more comfortable.

I snuck out of my bed, careful to not wake Percy up. I opened up a drawer and I had no absolute idea as to what I was looking at. Well, that was just great. I sighed in exasperation. I guess I had to rely on my sense of touch instead.

I shoved my hand into the drawer and moved it around until I actually found something that I was able to sleep in for the night. There were another five drawers that I could look through, but I didn't feel like taking the time to check them all. After all, I didn't want to wake Percy up.

Did I really want to go to the bathroom and change? Percy could've woken up anytime and teased me for being undressed. But, I didn't want to take the risk of walking down the hall and opening and closing the door. I could've woken up the whole house. It was possible. Back at my father's house, I was as quiet as air. I wonder what changed since then.

Well, many things changed since then. First of all, I actually had friends now, and a boyfriend that I wouldn't have thought possible. Second of all, I didn't even live at my father's house anymore. And also, my father was now dead. I couldn't even go back to that house. What would happen to all of the furniture and stuff in that house?

I sighed and decided to slip out of my clothes and put on clothes that were more wearable for sleep.

How did I even feel about my father being deceased? I had mixed feeling about my father now. I mean, yes he abused me almost every day of my life since I was ten years-old. But before that, he was the best dad ever. He actually cared for me. I mean, sure he lectured me a lot and scolded me for my mistakes, but that was what a regular dad did. He threatened to hit me, but he never did. Then all of a sudden, he actually _did_ hit me.

I pulled my shirt over my head and pulled it down to my hips. I ran a hand through my hair and checked to see if I had woken Percy. Nope, I did not. I crawled onto my bed and leaned my back against the wall once more, as I was getting sucked back into my thoughts.

I was certain that I would be going to his funeral. When and where it would be held was unknown to me. But, I wanted to go to his funeral, even if he was a horrible father to me in his last days. Percy would probably refuse the idea of me going, but I was still going to go anyway. Maybe he had a specific reason to hitting me. Or…maybe I just reminded him so much of my mother and Bianca that he _wanted_ me to go away. Maybe that was it!

Now that I thought about it, he never aimed for my vital organs. He never wanted to intentionally kill me; he just wanted me to go away. He was probably tired of losing so many things, that he just wanted to lose it all so he wouldn't have to deal with them anymore. And, one of them was me. I mean, sure he cracked a rib or two, but he probably knew I would go to the hospital. He probably knew about the pain relievers in my bathroom as well. Did that mean he really did care about me?

A single tear rolled down my cheek. My father did actually love me, but he was just tired of losing so many things that he just wanted me to go away. I reminded him so much of his wife and his daughter. I wonder what he must have felt like, seeing me every single day, and instead of actually seeing me, he saw Bianca or my mother. I probably would've exploded at my son too if I was in my father's position.

Something wiped the tear off my cheek and I jumped. I glared at the only other person in the room who had his hand caressing my left cheek.

"Don't scare me like that," I grumbled, but I didn't swat his hand away.

Percy only chuckled at me. "Sorry, I didn't mean to." He yawned.

My glare died. "Why are you up?"

"Why are you up?" Percy asked back at me.

"I asked first."

Percy sighed in quick defeat. "I felt a shift in the bed and I realized that you were crawling back onto the bed. It actually took me awhile to respond because I was so tired. I mean, it's two in the morning for gods' sake, Nico! Why are you awake at this time?"

I shrugged. "I just woke up."

Percy rolled his eyes. "Yeah, okay, Nico."

"It was the truth!" I protested.

Percy wrapped an arm around me and pulled me to his side. "Whatever, Nico. Then, explain to me why you're crying."

I leaned into Percy's embrace. "I was just…thinking."

Percy raised an eyebrow. "About what exactly?"

"Why do you care?" I asked.

Percy frowned down at me. "Because I'm your boyfriend, that's why."

I sighed. "Fine, I was thinking about my father."

"You mean child abuser."

I rolled my eyes at Percy's snide comment. "No, he is not. I was just thinking about it. I mean, I think he did love me, but I just reminded him of his wife so much."

Percy's grip on me tightened. "That doesn't mean that he was allowed to abuse you."

"I know," I mumbled. "I guess that's also true."

"So, does that mean you're going to his funeral?" Percy ventured.

I nodded in his chest and slung my arms around his neck. "Yeah, I mean, he's still my father."

Percy pulled me onto his lap by my hips until our foreheads came into contact. Even if it was dark in my room, his beautiful, emerald eyes still seemed to shine. He was silent, so I decided to ask something instead.

"Are you going to stop me?" I grabbed my other hand behind Percy's neck.

He still didn't answer, but I could tell he heard me when he finally met my eyes. There was another pause before Percy answered, "No. It's your choice anyway. And I agree, even if he did wretched, unforgivable things to you, he is still your dad."

I nodded. "Yeah, he is. You know, you've never told me about your real dad."

Percy sighed. "I guess I should, huh?"

My lips tilted downward. "Not if you don't want to. I mean, I'm fine with being left in the dark. You don't have to tell me anything. People deserve privacy."

Percy shook his head. "No. You've told me everything. It's only fair if I should too."

I decided to quickly change the subject before Percy started a tale he didn't want to talk about. "But, what happened when I fell asleep."

Percy raised an eyebrow at the sudden change of topic. I knew Percy wasn't stupid, even if he acted _very_ stupid. He probably knew what I was trying to do, but he didn't say a word about it. "Well…it's a pretty long story. I came downstairs I was ranting about how stupid you were for not telling us. Then, I told them about it, and my mom and Paul agreed to go try and keep you. So, they went to court with those two guys.

"I came back upstairs and went back into your room after you left. Turns out you fell asleep when I was gone. Was I really gone that long?" I rolled my eyes at that, though he obviously couldn't see from the lack of lighting.

"Well, whatever," Percy continued. "So, I closed your door and decided to do my homework, since you sleeping left me very bored. Surprisingly, I finished homework, and you were still sleeping!" Percy sighed exasperatedly. "I just left you be and waited until you woke up. I ended up talking with Jason via the computer.

"My mom and Paul came back from court at around eight, and luckily, we were able to keep you. Paul was going to call you down and ask if you if you ate anything for dinner. So, I told him that you suddenly fell asleep. They were so exhausted, so they went to sleep early too. Tyson has to go to sleep at seven thirty, so I kind of forced him to go to sleep since Mom wasn't home.

"When it was around ten, I decided to go to sleep for school. But, I decided to sleep in your bed with you. We're dating now anyway, aren't we?" Even though I couldn't see his face, I could obviously tell that he was smirking.

I rolled his eyes and hit his chest. "Very funny, Percy. You make me laugh." But, I was extremely glad that I was able to stay with Percy's family instead of going off to an orphanage with unknown people.

"But, Nico, you never laugh," Percy pointed out.

"Exactly," I replied with a slight glare.

Percy chuckled. He rested his hand on my neck and pulled me closer until our lips were a few inches apart.

"I love you so much, Nico," Percy whispered. His warm breath on my lips sent shivers down my spine.

I gave Percy a small smile. "I love you to, Percy."

Percy pressed forward and touched his lips to mine. It was a sweet and innocent kiss, where no one deepened it, but no one pulled away. At one point, my eyes closed, but I didn't know when. The crazy pterodactyls were flapping away in my stomach like their all-mighty predator was coming after them.

Then, everything changed. Percy deepened the kiss, and I was so overwhelmed from the sudden change that my lips parted only slightly. But, that was where Percy took his chance.

His tongue darted into mine at the moment, and I let out a breathless moan. My grip around Percy's neck tightened as he explored the inside of my mouth. My tongue decided to fight back; apparently it didn't like its territory being invaded by another. Our tongues battled for dominance. Saliva dripped everywhere, but both of us were too possessed by lust to even care.

Percy glided me back onto my bed so that my back pressed up to the mattress. He set himself between my legs, yet our tongues did not lose contact. I grabbed a fistful of Percy's hair when his tongue decided to swivel past mine and back into my mouth. His hands rubbed against my sides, whereas my other hand was tightly gripped onto Percy's neck.

I let out another moan as Percy moved his position from my mouth to my neck. He sucked on the sin by my collarbone for a little while; sucking and licking it in one spot. I moaned breathlessly. I didn't want to wake up the others, but Percy wasn't giving me much of a choice.

His right hand slipped under my shirt and another moan escaped my lips. He rubbed his palm against my stomach, and I was so distracted by that, so I cried out when Percy bit onto the skin by my collarbone. He bit and sucked at the spot, and I was sure he was going to leave a very noticeable hickey.

His right hand slipped more upward into my shirt until it found its way onto my chest. He grasped on my right nipple and teased it with his fingers; squeezing and rubbing it in any sensual way possible. I bit my lip so no more moans would come out, but it didn't work that way. My eyes were tightly shut now, and I grabbed onto Percy's hair like it depended on my life.

Percy pulled away from my collarbone and reattached his lips onto mine, prying my lips open with his tongue. Before he could do anything about it, my tongue made its way into his mouth, exploring the vast area my tongue seemed to find. He moaned against my mouth, and I barely felt the vibration from my tongue.

He squeezed my nipple once more and I yelped, which Percy took as the opportunity to delve deeper into my mouth instead. I moaned again and again from the skill that Percy's tongue and hand seemed to possess.

Our tongues battle for dominance once again, but I went down in defeat faster than before. Percy smirked before pulling away, breathing heavily. I too was panting from lack of air. My grip on Percy's hair loosened, but Percy still continued to rub my nipple sensually. We locked eyes for the longest time, and I see that Percy's eyes were full of lust. I could feel my face heat up, but I hoped Percy wouldn't notice.

Percy smiled and took his hand out of my black shirt. He caressed my cheek before pressing our lips back together. It wasn't a kiss that we just had before; it was a kiss full of love, not from lust. I kissed him back, and we stayed like that for another minute or so, before I pulled back for air.

Percy smiled at me again, before collapsing on the bed by my side and wrapping his arm around my waist. He pulled me closer until I was tightly pressed against him.

"Good night, Nico," Percy whispered into my ear.

I smiled for the second time of the night. "Night, Percy."


	24. Chapter 23

_**Author's Note: How long has it been since I last updated? Well, whatever. It's the end of the year, so my teachers at school are cramming in a bunch of work. So, sorry I haven't updated in forever. But, thanks for all the reviews! You guys are too kind…too kind… **_

_**I also realized that due to my irritating problem that I don't feel like telling you guys, updates are going to be slower than usual. I had this problem before, but now it came back! Ugh, stupid…stupid…I also decided to type up my own story, so I might take some time on that (just for fun; I don't think I would be posting it anywhere).**_

_**I ended the last chapter so abruptly and I can't recall why. I hate it. But, I'll just leave it at that. Oh well. **_

_**And I had to read this novel for English and it was so fucking beautiful oh my god it's called The Giver by Lois Lowry and you guys HAVE to read it! I loved it so much it was so amazing! **_

_**I also decided to split this fanfic into two fanfics since it's getting pretty long. The second fanfic will be in Percy's POV. Oh joy. Writing Percy is HELLA HARD.**_

_**Also, fun fact: The song that Nico is listening to is actually one of my favorite songs(:**_

_**Well, on to the chapter that took me four days to type! (I have to type with an ice pack on my head…stupid scalp.)**_

_**Note: Sorry for any kind of mistakes! I do not have an editor/beta reader, so this fanfic isn't perfect in terms of grammar, punctuation, etc. I am all on my own on this fanfic…how sad.**_

_**Warning: Homosexuality, language, child abuse, death, bullying, break-ups, sexual themes (I'll add more along the way.) **_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. I am definitely not Rick Riordan. Also, I got the "Hades abuses Nico" idea from some fanfic…though which fanfic I got it from I don't remember. Ciao!**_

* * *

**The Violin That Started it All**

**Author: Loving Healer**

**Part Two: Nico di Angelo**

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

* * *

It would only be three more days until my birthday. I used to never make such a big deal out of that one day; I would treat it like a normal day. But so many things happened, so I guess making a big deal out of my birthday wasn't anything new.

The weather was still a bit cold. Let me correct that: _really_ cold. But, at least it seldom snowed here. If it snowed, then I would be freezing to death. I was always sensitive to the cold around me, which was why I always wore a jacket. Some people found me crazy for wearing a jacket all the time, but now you know.

When I arrived at school, Silena skipped over to us and swung her arms around my neck.

"Hey, guys!" Silena greeted cheerfully, glancing at Percy and me.

"Hey, Silena. What's up?" Percy flashed her a bright smile.

"_Hm_, nothing really. I was just hanging out with the others. Do you want to come with me?" Silena cocked her head to the side. "How about you, Nico? Do you want to come with me?"

I frowned and shook my head. "No, thanks. I'm fine." I glanced at Percy. "You could go if you want."

"Then what would you do?" Percy inquired.

I shrugged nonchalantly. "Go to the tree I always go to, I guess."

Percy frowned. I guessed he didn't like the idea.

Percy turned to Silena and shook his head. "I'll be staying with my boyfriend, if that's okay with you." He glanced my way and winked at me, making me turn away and hide my blush that threatened to show itself.

Silena giggled at how Percy referred to me as. "Alright-y then! I'll stay with you guys, if that's okay? Would I ruin the moment?" She added a teasing tone to her voice in the last sentence.

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever, Silena."

"We did have a pretty Rated M moment last night." Percy smirked.

"Did you _really_ have to mention that, Percy?"

"Yes, in fact, I did have to," Percy triumphantly said. "Why? Are you embarrassed?" His smirk grew.

I gritted my teeth. "Shut up, Percy." Percy could only laugh.

Silena gasped and her eyes widened. "Oh my God! Seriously?! Like, _just_ last night?!"

I nodded. "Yeah, why?"

"Oh my God that's _amazing_!" She placed her hands upon my shoulders and began to jump up and down in place. "This—is—just—amazing!" She said with each jump. She stopped and squealed. "You guys are just so _cute_ together!"

I stared at her with an odd expression across my face. "Maybe you're overreacting about that," I said slowly.

Silena pouted. "I am not! It's true!"

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, whatever, Silena."

Silena could only cross her arms over her chest and sigh as a response.

"When does school even start?" I decided to ask. It was rare for me to bring up a topic to talk about, but I just wanted to get off of the topic we were on.

Silena shrugged and pulled out her phone. "Well, school starts at seven fifty-five, so we have about sixteen minutes until school starts."

I sighed. "It's only seven thirty-nine?"

Silena nodded. "Wow, Percy. You have a really smart boyfriend. I can _never_ do mental math." She suddenly giggled. "Why do you always get into relationships with such smart people, yet you are the total opposite?"

I suppressed a smile before Percy exclaimed, "I am _not_ stupid! I can be smart if I want to."

"Sure, Percy. We'll agree with you on that," I sarcastically commented.

"Well, you should."

"I don't think it's a wise idea."

Percy pouted. "You are so mean, Nico."

I shrugged. "I'm always like this."

Percy smirked. "You weren't like this at two in the morning."

"I'm going to push you off the school roof."

Percy's smirk was still intact. He stepped up to me and softly whispered into my ear, "I'm going to keep pushing until you can no longer walk."

I gritted my teeth to suppress the threatening blush to spread across my face (which did not work). Percy stepped back to examine my expression, and then laughed.

Silena knit her eyebrows and looked between Percy and me. "What just happened?"

"Nothing," I immediately replied, making Percy laugh even harder.

Silena placed her hands upon her hips and tilted her head to the side. "Well, whatever happened, I certainly don't want to know. Though, I am just a bit curious!" She smiled innocently. "But anyway, we should get going to class. School might start in a bit."

"It better," I added, side-glaring at Percy.

Percy held his hands up in defense. "You're fault for threatening to push me off the roof.

It was my turn to finally smirk. "And I _still_ just might."

And that was the last threat that hung in the air when the bell for school rang.

* * *

By the time it was lunch, I didn't feel like sitting with the others (not that I do it often anyway). I was listening to a song on my phone called "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid" by The Offspring. Barely anyone was around where I sat, which was by the tree on the field. It was peaceful and quiet—with the exception of my music.

A silhouette of a girl began to walk up to me. The more she got closer, the more I started to recognize her. But, the first thing that stood out to me was her tight, blonde ponytail swaying back and forth in the wind. It was obvious to me now, who the person was.

She stopped in front of me, and I glanced up at her. I took out one of my earphones out of my left ear, since I guessed that she would start to talk to me.

"Why aren't you with the others?" She asked.

"Why aren't you there?" I asked back at her. "Percy?"

She nodded. "May I sit down?"

I nodded at her and patted the seat to my right. She sat down with her legs brought up to her chest, and I offered her my other earphone. She stared at it and glanced at me. Annabeth soon smiled and took the offered earphone.

I sighed. "I never answered your question, huh? Well, I just didn't want to be around them today. I like being alone, even if I have to be alone with my thoughts."

Annabeth glanced at me and wrapped an arm around me. "Sometimes, it's best to be alone, to clear out your thoughts. You may not like to think so much, but it's better."

I nodded in agreement. "I guess that's true. Did you tell the others that you'd be coming for me?"

Annabeth chuckled. "Yeah. Percy thought you were getting beaten up again by Castellan." She shrugged. "I already knew where you would be, so I volunteered to go get you."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course you would know where I would be."

"You know," Annabeth began after a moment of silence, "I'm starting to like you."

I raised an eyebrow at her. "And, why is that?" I didn't want to bring up the fact that she liked me even though I was dating her ex-boyfriend.

Annabeth shrugged. "I don't know. You just seem like a…likeable guy?"

"_Uh_," Was the only response I could manage at the time. "Thanks?"

Annabeth chuckled. "No problem. At first, you seemed like a really scary guy."

"I try," I replied. "At the time, I didn't want any friends."

Now it was Annabeth's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Why not?"

My lips turned into a thin line. "I don't know. After everything that happened to me, it's hard for me to trust people. You know, I'm started to trust you," I added.

Annabeth slightly nodded in acknowledgement. "I see. Someone betrayed you before, huh?"

I inhaled. "I forgot to tell you about what happened to me before, right?"

Annabeth shook her head. "You don't have to tell me. Everyone deserves privacy. I mean, just because I told you what happened to me, doesn't mean you have to tell me to 'return the favor.'"

I shrugged. "I told everyone that I trust what happened to me. Which are only Silena and Percy."

"Is that what Percy and Silena were talking privately about on Sunday?" Annabeth surmised.

I nodded. "Yeah. Silena seemed really devastated when she heard about it." My shoulders slumped. "I don't think it's such a big deal anymore. The past is the past; it's gone now."

Annabeth stretched out her legs on the ground. She glanced up at the gray sky. "The past isn't just gone, you know. The past defines who you are now. You can also learn many lessons from the past. I learned a lot from mine. And remember, it's hard for you to trust people now. That's because someone…most likely betrayed you in the past. Your past defined who you are now. And, I'm guessing that's why you seem like such a scary guy at first."

Annabeth is just too smart for her own good, in my opinion.

I sighed. "You sure know a lot."

Annabeth slightly blushed. "_Er_, thanks. Once I get started, I tend to go on forever. Sorry about that."

I shook my head. "You don't have to apologize for that. I learn a lot from you."

Annabeth smiled. "I guess. What were you like before…you know…_that_ happened?"

I shrugged, trying to go way back to when I was only ten years-old. "Well, I was really…weird, I guess. I was always happy, and I laughed at almost anything. I was really annoying and I asked a lot of questions if I met someone new. I was also obsessed with this card game called Mythomagic. But, I have no idea what happened to those cards. I have the strangest feeling I burned them."

Annabeth stared dumbfounded at me. "Back then, you were the complete opposite of yourself now. And, I've heard of that card game before. It was based on the Greek gods and goddesses, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, it was. The weird thing is, I still remember how to play."

Annabeth chuckled. "Maybe you should teach me how to play so we can play a game."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah right." There was a pause before I said, "Hey, I'm going to start my story now. You okay with that?"

Annabeth frowned at me for a while, until she finally nodded. "If you want to. I won't stop you."

I took a deep breath and began my story.

* * *

After school, I sat upon one of the school's benches. I was waiting for Percy to come so that we could walk home together. If he didn't come in the next three minutes, I would leave without him unless he told me beforehand that he would be late. Today, he didn't tell me anything. Well, technically it wasn't his fault, since I avoided him all lunch period.

Then, Percy finally came up to me.

"Where were you and Annabeth at lunch?" Was the first thing Percy asked.

I shrugged. "Where else would I be?"

Percy sighed. "I guess that would've been obvious if I thought it through more. I told Annabeth to bring you back, but she never came back."

"Yeah, she stayed with me and we talked for the rest of lunch," I explained. "I also told her what happened to me when I was ten."

Percy smiled. "Does that mean you fully trust her now?"

I nodded. "She's pretty nice, even though she seemed pretty intimidating when I first met her."

Percy raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? You were exactly like that when I first met you. You were also really mysterious."

"Yeah, I remember. Whenever you asked me a question about myself, I always replied with 'not important'."

"Oh yeah, I remember that too," Percy said, recalling the memory. "And for the record, that was _really_ annoying!"

I softly smiled. "Yeah, well, at the time, I didn't really care if I annoyed you, even if I did like you anyway."

Percy pouted. "You are very evil, Nico di Angelo."

"I try, I try," My smiled faded. "Are we going to home now?"

"Oh!" Percy exclaimed. "Before that, I want to ask you something."

I raised an eyebrow. "What do you even want to ask me?"

Percy genuinely smiled. "Well, this Saturday, do you want to go do something with me?"

I could see the faint hue of red on his face, and I didn't doubt it was there on mine.

My eyes slightly widened at the fact that Percy was asking me on a date. "_Uh_, sure, if you want," I awkwardly answered. "But, where are we going anyway."

"We're going to a pretty fancy restaurant. Don't worry, though. It's all on me."

My jaw almost dropped to the ground. "Seriously?! Are you sure you want to pay for all of that? You know, I could help pay for it if you want."

Percy shook his head. "What kind of boyfriend would I be if I can't fully buy it? It's like you're helping me buy your birthday present or something."

"Well, Silena helped you buy my birthday present," I pointed out.

"Actually, SIlena just helped me pick it out. I was the one that bought it."

My eyes continued to be wide. "Percy, do you know how expensive stuff is from a jewelry store? After this restaurant, you're going to be completely broke," I slowly said.

Percy shook his head. "Depending on what we're getting at the restaurant, I'd say I'd have about sixty or fifty dollars left."

"How much money do you even have?" I said in awe.

Percy winked. "That's a secret. Maybe you'll find out. I get an allowance from Paul every month, so who knows how much I'll have by the time you find out?"

I sighed. "Percy, you know you don't need to spend so much on me."

Percy smiled. "Well, what if I want to?"

I didn't have a clue as to how to respond to that.

Percy chuckled and grasped my hand in his. "Now come on, we wasted enough time here already just by asking you this." He pulled me up from my seat on the school bench. "Come on, let's go home."

"And do some homework," I put in.

Percy made a disgusted expression. "Who wants to do homework right when they get home? You're crazy, Nico."

"Let me just remind you that you just called your boyfriend crazy," I said.

Percy laughed. "Whatever. You know I still love you." He pecked a kiss on my left cheek.

"Let's just go home," I said, the blush on my face very evident."

"Do you even know how cute you are and the fact that you're not even trying?" Percy whined. "This is very unfair."

"How's it unfair?" I arched an eyebrow.

"Because you don't even know how much I want to claim you right now."

I blinked a few times, finally realizing what he meant.

Percy realized that I finally understood what he meant when my blush became a deeper shade of red.

He smirked at my reaction. "Let's just go home now, shall we?"

He gripped my hand tighter as he led the way home.


End file.
